The Gifts
by ngrey651
Summary: Sapients, anthros, "furries", call them what you like. But what is their origin? Where did they come from and how did they gain the traits they have? Join us in a collection of tales as we dive into the past to see the truth of how the world was made.
1. Chapter 1

The first thing you noticed about him was that he was an albino. He had pure white hair, light grey eyebrows and pink eyes that vibrantly glowed as he looked the city before him over. He wore a golden jacket with black straps, three across the chest, two placed upon the shoulders. Silver, tipless gloves with emeralds embedded in the top were placed upon his hands, and he possessed white pants with green and silver sneakers. He held a notepad in his hand and was tapping a pencil to his lip thoughtfully.

Sitting by him was a green-scaled being, a snake with golden eyes. He had sky-blue hair that spiked up at the top like a Mohawk, then went down his back in thick locks. He wore a beautiful white robed outfit with a plain belt, and had a strange shamanic necklace of white orbs, almost like pearls, with a pair of black sandals. He was sitting and kindly looking at a young rabbit.

The rabbit was a sweet little thing with pretty eyes and light fur, with orange-tipped ears and a dress to match. She looked dainty and pleasant, and was sitting with a blue-skinned creature that had a yellow orb hanging off the top of it's head, with yellow-tipped, stubby arms and legs and a plump little body. Using his small, pinkish butterfly wings he hovered into the rabbit's arms and she adjusted his bow tie as they sat on a bench near the snake.

"So…what are you here for again, Mr. White?" Cream the Rabbit asked the human.

"I happen to have recently had a bit of an…idea." White told her. "I needed a place to write this all up at, somewhere I can feel inspiration going through me…this is that place." He said, gesturing around the enormous park that overlooked the Station Square.

"I am wondering something myself…what is this thing you are writing, my friend?" King asked, his slightly sibilant, but quite kindly voice inquired, golden eyes glittering.

"Chao-chao?" Cheese the Chao asked.

"Well." Michael White grinned broadly and leaned back, looking the threesome over. "You see…our tale goes back thousands of years ago…"

…

…

…

…**THE GIFTS**

_----------------- _

_How was it that life was made in my world?_

_How does the tale get told? How do I start? _

_How else?_

_In the beginning…_

…

…

…

…

…there was but darkness and light.

Circling each other constantly in a steady rhythm, all of what we knew to be "creation" was naught much else but a great abyss. Half was black, half was white, and both were separate from each other. Neither one mixed with another. They remained apart, circling constantly, and all of "creation" was naught but the steady rhythm that they made.

Until it happened. Great hands brought them colliding together. That which had been apart became united…a yin-yang effect resulted. "Balance" became known. The Creator was pleased with this. He informed the Hand of Creation and the Hand of Destruction that this "Balance" brought joy to his heart.

Still, the Creator needed more. So with the Hands, he pulled out from that balance more forces to keep the new world he would build in check.

Using two pieces of Light and Dark, they hands got to work on creating two beings at the same time. Both made in the same design as the Creator.

One was a being with skin of perfect peach marble, hair as gold, eyes of brilliant sapphire. His face shone out like a sun, and there was not a single blemish on his muscular body. This…was Order.

At the same time, another being was born with eyes of shining emerald, glistening in the light almost as brightly as his white hair, and skin darker than a black night, a being with a smooth smile upon his face. This…was Chaos.

The Creator spoke to them after seeing how good they were, and thus said that he was about to create a new world…and that Order and Chaos were to look after it, and to make sure things moved smoothly whilst he, through the Hand of Creation and the Hand of Destruction, worked upon other worlds. The mighty hands were clapped together, and like thunder a new world was born…with its to-be-inhabitants deposited before Order and Chaos…ready to be sorted out.

…

…

…

…all of the animals of the world lay in a large, grassy, flower-filled field. As they looked around at each other, they blinked. They were not honestly sure what to make of the other beings around them. They had only the faintest notion of what "emotions" were. They were really naught but blueprints of the beings they were meant to become. There was no sleekness to the legs of the rabbits, there was no cunning in the light within the fox's eyes, and there was no strength in the muscles of the bears.

"Brother." Order spoke, his voice booming like the crashing of thunder, like the sound of a thousand drops of rain falling all at once, like the sound of a trumpet's cry. "These beings cannot survive in this new world without the necessary traits that all true life has."

"You mean?" Chaos asked, his voice soft and smooth, like hands brushing over a flower, like the touch of a zephyr, sweeter than the ringing of a bell.

"Yes. We must give them strengths. Strengths to ensure that this world shall not conquer them!"

"Oh, but we cannot simply give them strengths." Chaos added, shaking his head as he and Chaos floated over the animals gathered below as they gazed up in wonderment. "Then it would be uneven…uninteresting. BORING. They need WEAKNESSES to balance them out! Flaws, brother mine! Make some of them very weak and others very strong!"

"I have an idea. We shall have them all line up." Order decided, beaming proudly. "The animals shall line up, one species at a time. We will use our power to give each species two great strengths, and one great weakness. All will be equal."

"And yet, NOT equal. For no two animals will have the same weakness and strengths as another!" Chaos agreed, clapping his hands together happily. "Oh, this is a WONDROUS idea! Yes, let us begin!"

"Come, little ones." Order requested gently, like a kind father talking to his children. "Line up and let us grant you your gifts."

One by one, all animal species was given two gifts and a "curse". But the animals were confused. The two forces, Order and Chaos, did not tell the animals what these gifts and curses WERE. "How will we know what we have been blessed with?" Each species asked, as confusion filled their pleas.

"They will be made clear to you soon." Chaos insisted, waving a finger in the air, laughter in his eyes like an eccentric uncle. "Already you are beginning to feel true emotions. Your gifts and curses will follow soon."

"The gifts you asked for in your hearts are yours, I assure you." Order intoned.

"For now, go out and live. And have FUN!" Chaos added, grinning.

…

…

…

…the power was theirs, so the beings had said…

Humankind, the last ones to approach Chaos and Order, looked around at each other. Right now, there were naught but two of them, a man, and a woman. They sat around a campfire, in naught…but their birthday suits. The knowledge of what it meant to be "naked" had not occurred to them. What they knew was of love…of hope…of faith…of innocence…of kindness…of peace. And this same feeling filled the hearts of all the other animals in the beautiful garden that was their home.

The aroma filling the air came from the many trees that filled their "home". It seemed to transport the breather of these fumes to heavenly places. There was a multitude of delicious, savory fruit upon the many trees. Indeed, the woman was munching on a spectacularly juicy pear.

But, sadly, Chaos had, and always would, have a tinge left upon the world. Caprice…whim…this was filling the hearts of the animals. And one such animal gave in to a dark whim indeed.

"Ahhh, Eve. Truly, YOU'RE the most beautiful flower in the entire garden."

He hung down from the top of a branch, smirking with deeply dark orange eyes, looking Eve over and giving her a charming smile as he folded his arms. Eve bowed her head and blushed slightly in appreciation. "Oh, you are too kind, Czar." Eve said, reaching down to the ground. She frowned slightly at the sight of a wilting flower and breathed onto it, and with her breath, it rose higher up, sparkling slightly.

"You're MUCH nicer than that tricky bitch Adam used to have. He picked a winner, he did." Czar added, grinning broadly. "You're smart enough to know all of the Creator's unspoken laws and not go against them!"

"Yes, especially not to touch that tree." Eve added, pointing at a far off-tree where a group of small, blue creatures with pretty little wings were flying around. The cherub-like beings giggled as they repeated the phrase "Chow, chow" over and over. These were "Chao", little angels Chaos had a liking for. Nobody was sure what gift THEY had…they were odd little things.

"Ooh. Right. The…uh…" Czar blinked stupidly. "…what is that fruit the tree produces?" He asked. "I know the name, it's on the tip…" He poked his forked tongue out slightly. "Of…" he poked it out of his mouth more. "My…" MORE! "Tongue."

Eve burst into giggles. She had a very kindly voice, and was quite lovely to look at. It was not so much that she was beautiful, though indeed she was "pretty". Rather, her face emitted a warmth to it that made her seem positively heavenly. "Hee-hee-hee-hee! Aw, you fooler! You silly snake. It's The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil!" She said, waving her hand in the air.

"Ohhhhh, yes." Czar nodded and dropped down from the tree, leaning against the tree. "So…you're not to go near it?" He asked of her.

"Going near it's not going to kill us, but EATING it will. It'll kill any animal that eats it, y'know." Eve said, nodding. The way she spoke, it like this fact was the most obvious thing in all the world.

Czar grinned and walked towards the tree as the chao looked down at him. He plucked a fruit off and popped it into his mouth, chewing vigorously before swallowing. "What bull-honkery!" He finally said. "See? I didn't die. It's really a very lovely fruit. What will happen is we'll finally know the difference between good and evil." He informed her, shrugging. "But, hey, if you don't WANT to be like the Creator…"

"…be like…**the CREATOR**?" Eve asked, incredulously. She stuttered on the spot, trying to recompose herself. "I don't really think…"

"You don't want to know what the difference between good and evil is. I understand. Ignorance is bliss, after all." Czar reasoned, waving his hand in the air as he walked off. Eve looked at his fading figure, then at the fruit, rubbing her chin.

Knowing good and evil…

She felt kind of insulted. He was calling her IGNORANT? Who did that stupid prick think he WAS? She turned her head and looked over in the distance as she saw Adam was lying on back in the grass, blowing the top of a dandelion up and down in the air that he'd popped off the stem. She grabbed one fruit for him, and one for her, and then walked towards him.

"Hey!" She called out. "Catch." She said, giving it to Adam. "I've just been talking to Czar." She informed Adam. This little talk was catching the attention of several other animals, most noticeably the chao, who hovered in the air, eyes wide and fearful, little "hands" held to their mouths in worry. "He says that we're ignorant. That because we haven't eaten of the fruit, we don't know what it means to be good and evil!"

Adam looked down at the fruit. He frowned darkly. "That stuck up…grrrr. How dare he talk like that? What does he think we are? Amoral idiots?"

"Apparently." Eve muttered. "What do you think?"

"Well I'm eating this. It's just ONE fruit." Adam decided, nodding his head.

"Yeah. Totally." Eve agreed.

They bit into the fruit. They gobbled it down. NOM-NOM-NOM-NOM-NOM.

…five…four…three…two…one…

"…hey! I'm not dead!" Adam remarked.

"That was a pretty good fruit." Eve agreed.

They went back for seconds.

"Hmm." A hedgehog nearby remarked, eyes widening. "Hey! Lemme have one!"

"Me too!" A fox called out.

"I want one!" A toad whined.

Meanwhile, Czar, the snake, approached his wife, Czarina as she sunned herself on a rock, humming to herself. He had a slightly pained expression on his face, as if something was bothering him.

"Darling?"

"Yes, honey?"

"…do you feel a breeze?" He asked.

…

…

…

…from that day on, things were different. Every animal in the garden ending up trying the fruit from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and they all ended up paying for it. Now they knew the difference between good and evil…

And many bemoaned how unhappy they were. Ignorance HAD been bliss. Order sighed mournfully and bonked his head against a brick wall as Chaos leaned nearby. "I-can't-believe-it." He moaned. "They ATE the fruit. They ate the **bloody** fruit. They weren't ready! Didn't they know they weren't ready?"

"It speeds up the timetable. Makes things…interesting." Chaos decided, shrugging.

"Of course YOU'D find this amusing!" Order snapped, stopping the bonking of his head. This was too bad, the coconut-like conking sound it was producing was oddly pleasing to Chaos. "But this is serious. All of their actions shall have greater consequences now than they did before."

"True, but now…their gifts and curses will be made clear." Chaos insisted. "This will be a good thing, I'm sure!" He told his brother, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a knowing smile.

"I suppose we will simply have to wait and see, won't we?" Order admitted, turning to look down from their home in the skies at the animals below. Then his eyes widened broadly and a smile spread across his face. "Ooh, we will not have to wait long, methinks! For I see that the Hedgehog race is about to be the first animals to discover their gifts!"

**Author's Note:**

**And so it gets underway...an examination of all "anthros" or "furry" species within the Sonic realm, explaining where their strengths and weaknesses come from. It's an ambitious sort of project and I was inspired to create it after reading the "Watership Down" stories, and I think this should be an enjoyable experience.  
**

**Review, if you please. :D  
**


	2. Chapter 2

White rapped his knuckles on a door. "Helloooooo? Heeeelllooooooo?" He called out.

A certain special face answered the door, with quills hanging down like little dreadlocks from her head. She was pink, VERY much so, and at the moment, was covering up her body with a towel.

"Oh! Mr. White!"

"Might I trouble dearest "Sonniku"?" White asked calmly, grinning broadly, like a cat. "It's to do with my book. I need his official permission."

"Oh, fine. Come in."

"Yes, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before."

"WHAT?"

"Kidding, Ames." White joked, raising a hand up as he walked into the next room. Sonic folded his arms, looking White over, his blue quills slightly bristled.

"What ARE you doing there?" He asked.

"Your ancestor." White said, raising a waiver form up. "According to the law, if I am to write about him, I need permission from his descendant, and that's you." He said, gesturing at Sonic. "Otherwise you can sue me, which is what I REALLY care about."

"No doubt." Sonic laughed. "But you should know that I don't know a barrister from a bar stool." He went on. "Tell me though, what did you find out about my ancestor?"

"Well, let me tell you what I know…" White commented calmly, holding up his notepad.

**THE HEDGEHOG**

Quills. If you were to sum up the hedgehog race, it would be by their quills. They were proud, very proud, of the quills upon their backs. The longer and thicker they were, the better. And perhaps one hedgehog was the perfect epitome of this belief.

His name was Oglive. All hedgehogs had "cultured" names. The finer and more lustrous your quills were, the more pish-posh the name, and "Oglive" was the fanciest hedgehog in all of the burrow where his kind lived around. Two long and sharp quills hung down the sides of his head, whilst four shot far back up at the top. On his back were six equally hazardous-looking quills and all of them glistened in the light, carefully-kept and polished, the same beautiful shade of blue as Oglive was.

Hedgehogs had a bit of a thing, you see, for the sky. They loved looking at it and admiring it. They thought it was the most beautiful thing in all of the world. In many ways, they were right. How could one not love the sky? It brought light to the world in the morning, blue wonderment during the day, luxurious colors like the fall leaves at twilight, and peaceful darkest blue/black to soothe the soul at night. It glowed even then, with stars and the moon, and occasionally bolts of white would shoot across and you could make a wish of the sky.

Indeed, the sky was a wonderful thing. And to Hedgehogs, if your body was the color of the sky, that was a sign of greatest luck. The highest-ranking hedgehog leaders all had colors that were shades of the sky, and everybody agreed that Oglive's beautiful light blue fur was the finest out of them all.

He was not a truly "good" leader though. For he was sure of himself. Foolish. And this often was made all-too-clear to the other hedgehogs.

Priscilla, his sister, whose shade was as the darkest night, would always sigh when Oglive boasted to other hedgehogs about how wonderful his fur was. It was so sleek and smooth and beautiful, he said, that surely Chaos and Order themselves had chosen him for something special. She would see what he could not…the seeds of anger growing in the burrow that was their home.

One day a hedgehog with fur dark grey like an overcast sky filled with rain snapped at Oglive. "You think you're so keen, why don't you prove it against me? I've got the finest MIND in all of the burrow. If you think you can guess the answers to my riddles, then I'll oblige you're the smartest hedgehog here."

Oglive never backed down from any challenge. He agreed. The grey hedgehog, Vernon, proceeded to tell a series of riddles to Oglive.

"As you are pillar, so I am vine, you see me when the sun doth shine…what am I, oh foe of mine?"

Oglive thought of himself as a pillar standing outside the burrow in the sun, imagining vines hanging to him and creeping off like…

"A shadow."

"That was an easy one though. Now for something harder." Vernon remarked. "What can run, but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but cannot weep, has a bed but cannot sleep?"

Oglive wracked his brain. What ran, yet didn't walk, and couldn't ever TALK? It could not be something living. It had to be something non-living that ran, had a mouth…had a head…had a BED. That was it.

"A river."

"Not baaaaad." Vernon said, placing his paws together and smiling. "But now things get tricker. What question can one never speak an answer to?" Vernon asked one final time.

Oglive simply smiled. "What is it like to be mute?" He asked.

And so Vernon hung his head in shame, and Oglive was thus known as the smartest hedgehog in the burrow. Unfortunately, this stoked his ego further. He began to brag OUTSIDE of his home.

"And so I told him, "what's it like to be mute", and you should have SEEN the look upon his face!" Oglive told Rojo, a Robin. He and Rojo were playing with Priscilla at the local pond as some frogs and toads watched them from afar. "Wiped that smirk clean off. And that's how I got to be known as the smartest hedgehog in the burrow. And I'll bet I can outsmart any other animal too." Oglive added to Rojo.

Rojo dipped his wings into the water and splashed some of it onto his face, shaking it all off before trotting around in a circle a few times. He titled his head to the side, the beautiful red vest on his chest making him appear as though he wore a flame upon his form.

"Well, I dinnae no 'bout that." He said. "Everyone says that Grijs the OWL's tah smartest and wisest. I'll wager he could beat cheh, Oglive mah good mahn."

"No, the smartest creature has to be Brother, the Rabbit." A nearby mouse said, poking it's head out from a log and scampering on top. "You've never met anybody so clever. He's tricked lions and tigers and bears-OH MY!" The mouse shrieked at the sight of a newcomer appearing.

"You're ALL wrong, the smartest creature's MAN." Adam boasted as he stepped out of the nearby long reeds by the pond, smirking as he put his hands on his hips. "I've been hiding in these reeds for ages and not a single one of you smelled me or heard me. I'm the only one who's found ways to disguise myself to keep you from catching me." He told them, grinning. "Now clear out. I'm fishing here."

The animals all sighed sadly. They weren't as strong or smart as Adam, they thought. If they stuck around, he'd beat them.

Or rather…MOST of them thought that. But Oglive was reckless.

"Ah, but you can't run fast enough to catch a rabbit or fly like a bird. Why, I'll bet you couldn't even catch ME!" Oglive said, smirking.

Man looked at Oglive and a nasty smirk appeared on his lips. "Alright, hedgehog. I'll play your game." He held up a knife and then placed it back in his sheathe. "We'll race. And we'll keep racing until one of us admits defeat. If you win, I have to let you take whatever pick you'd like from my garden. If I win, then I'll take my knife and get to work on your quills until none are left and you're BALD."

Oglive just smirked right back. "I accept those terms!" He said.

And so, word spread about the great races that were to occur. The animals all lined up to watch as Adam and Oglive took their place at the start of a line that Priscilla had drawn in the grass of a large field. "You must run around the field, following markers I've placed." She told them both. "Whomever reaches the line first after a loop…wins that race."

Oglive nodded. Adam nodded. They smirked at each other. Then the race began!

Oglive was a quick little fellow. But…mankind has always had longer legs. Therefore, as quick as Oglive was, as quick as hedgehog kind was, he lost the first race. Moaning, he sat down as Adam took the knife and lopped off the ends of the quills.

He tried again. And he fought DIRTY. He spat at Adam. He clawed with his paws. He tossed dirt. But Oglive, sadly, was shorter than man. Not so much damage was done to the human. Soon man had won the SECOND race. And now the quills were becoming shorter and shorter.

Soon they weren't even a foot off of Oglive's body. Now…he felt an emptiness within him. He'd lost his beautiful quills. This was personal. He clenched his fists as the next race began.

He and Adam were neck in neck, but Oglive knew full well that the human would get a burst of speed soon, as he always did. Why…why was he continuing to race? He was afraid to lose his quills completely…afraid to lose all of his respect.

He was afraid. And yet…he accepted this. He accepted he could very well lose, but he resolved to give man a run for his money, and he summoned up his strength, screwing his courage to the sticking point, and found…

He was running FASTER than he had before…MUCH faster. And he knew why. With his big and heavy quills now shorter and now less long, they weren't slowing him down! He could BEAT man. New courage filled him. He could DO this. He could DO this!

He raced around the field and outran Adam, again and again and again. He found new drive as he continued to bolt across the field, past the markers and over the finish line. Finally Adam couldn't take any more. He hit the ground, moaning, and raised his hand in defeat.

"I'm proud of you." Chaos said, appearing from behind a nearby tree with a collection of delicious food from Adam's garden, all for Oglive. "You have discovered your gifts in allowing yourself to give in to your weakness."

"Your kind will always be courageous. Bravery will be second nature to you." Order agreed, appearing to the side with delicious nectar for Oglive to drink, and he happily downed it. "But you will also be reckless. Your mouth will get you and your kind into trouble. Courage will quickly turn into cockiness, and when seek a way to escape the calamity you yourself have caused…"

"You will use your other gift, the gift of SPEED. If they wish to beat you, they must first CATCH you." Chaos laughed.

Oglive nodded, accepting these terms, and he extended a hand to Adam, helping him up.

"You were a pretty damn good runner. Not as good as me, of course, but not bad at all." He told Adam.

"You're not half-bad yourself." Adam agreed. "You know, I think you're alright. You can come into my garden whenever you want, little buddy."

And so, Adam felt a kinship with the hedgehog spark. There would always be a soft spot in his heart for Oglive and his kind.


	3. Chapter 3

"Coohie-coochie-coo! Coohie-coochie-coo! Coochie-coochie-coochie-coochie-coochie-coochie-coochie-coochie!" Cream the Rabbit stated as she tickled Cheese, her loving chao.

"If I am EVER that cute…shoot me dead." White mumbled.

"Tell you what…let's make a pact." A white-furred fruit bat remarked as she stood near White, rubbing the back of her head. She had a slim-looking outfit with a large heart at the front of her chest to show off her "most common superpower".

"You seem tense. Something up, Rouge?" White wanted to know as Cream headed over in their direction.

"Ever since we got married, I've wondered about the idea of...having kids. But Knuckles isn't a man, he's a MANNEQUIN. Every time I approach the subject, he shuts up!"

"Hmm." White rubbed his chin. "Lemme talk to him after I'm done with Cheese. Tell me something." White asked Cream as she held Cheese to her chest. "Do you remember the gift that Rabbits gained?"

"Easy!" She said cheerily. "I remember the story very well…"

**THE RABBIT**

Rabbits had a kinship with many. Perhaps it was the way they took care of themselves. They had illustrious coats, beautiful, beautiful eyes, and finely-cut claws on their paws. They always made themselves the best of clothing and enjoyed being sociable and friendly with many others.

This was easy in the beginning, for everyone ate of the fruits of the land and did not prey upon each other. So it was not such an odd thing to see lambs lying down with lions. Or, in this case…

"Thank you for letting us sleep in your home." The rabbit known as Ella said happily, nodding at the host of the home he and his brother "Campy" were holing up in during a particularly nasty storm. Ella, in the rabbit tongue, meant "Brother", while "Campy's" full name, "Campion", was also a synonym for "Brother". All rabbits named themselves according to terms for family, you see. They were a close-knit group.

Their host, the bear known as Big Paws, nodded gruffly. His kind were rather…unoriginal. They named themselves after their most distinguishing feature. And if you think this doesn't seem so bad, tell that to Big Paws's sister, "Flat Boobs". The poor, poor dear.

"Couldn't let you bloody well sit out in the rain." He said, letting them rest on a nearby bed as he turned the lights off. "Get a good night's sleep." He told them. "Storms always do a heck of a lot of damage to my home and I'll need help tomorrah cleanin' the damage up."

Ella smiled and nodded at Big Paws before he and Campy rested their heads on the pillows of their beds, letting sleep overtake them. They dreamed pleasantly, and in the morning were awoken to the scent of juicy berries and sweetly-roasted herbs for breakfast.

True to his word, the home of Big Paw had enormous holes punched in through the walls. The roof was leaking slightly and pools of water had formed in the living room…but still, the three of them ate together in the kitchen, with Ella and Campy cheerfully talking about their live back at their warren.

"It's a lovely place, really. We should TAKE you there sometime." Ella informed Big Paws.

"…hmph." Big Paws mumbled.

"Anyhow, it's a beautiful day out too." Campy added.

"It's humid." Big Paws muttered.

"And you're looking well-rested." Ella complimented.

"I'm an old man, child. Don't flatter me. I've got wrinkles on my wrinkles." Big Paws grumbled.

"And these are delicious berries." Campy told Big Paws, holding one up and grinning.

"They're the last of my food." Big Paws harrumphed.

"Life stinks?" Ella finally asked.

"I KNEW you were the smart one." Big Paws told him wryly. "With or without you in my home, life, for me, will go on as it always has gone on. BADLY."

"You could just MOVE." Campy suggested. "If living here is so problematic."

"I've got too many things to pack up and move on my own. And I cannot get a mate to save my life." Big Paws added, groaning.

"Aw, don't worry. You'll feel better once we fill in those holes!" Ella insisted. "Here, I'm not hungry, you can have MY food." He told Big Paws, heading outside to find wood to patch up the roof with his brother, as Big Paws blinked stupidly at the berries before him before stuffing them into his mouth.

And so, the entire day, Ella and Campion looked for wood and brought it back to the house. They tried to reach the roof on their own, but an amused Big Paws found that though they were good jumpers, they simply didn't have the STRENGTH needed to pull themselves onto the roof. He pushed them up using his paws and handed them the wood one chunk at a time as they nailed it in.

Soon it became clear that they weren't just fixing the holes. They redid the entire roof with a smile upon their faces, even as the day got longer and longer. Big Paw was frankly quite amazed. All that…for HIM?

The next day, a new problem arose. He approached the rabbits in the morning and sadly informed them that he couldn't get new berries. All of them were being gobbled up by birds out in the fields where he went to pick his food.

Campion, however, smiled gently and shook his head. "Don't you worry, sir!" He told Big Paws. "We'll get you those berries. You'll be feasting well tonight."

He and Ella set out for the fields and hit among the hedges, waiting for the crows that hung around the berry bushes to leave. They noticed that when each murder of crows left, another murder, aka, another flock, would return. SHIFTS.

They would have to be quick, Big Paws thought to himself as he watched them from a high hill nearby. And quick they proved to be! They rushed out of the hedges, diving in and out of the berry bushes over and over, snatching berries left and right and pocketing them.

Some of the crows beaks flashed like lightning as they angrily tried to poke the impudent bunnies that dared steal their berries, but though they weren't physically strong enough to beat the crows in a fair fight, the rabbits were AGILE. They dived and ducked and jumped out of the way like little brown blurs. One of them even snatched a plump berry right out of the beak of a particularly LARGE crow, who gaped as the rabbits ran off with plenty of berries in their big, deep, beautiful coat pockets.

They returned to the bare-chested Big Paws and handed him half of the berries they'd collected…his share. And what a share indeed! The berries were so ripe and juicy and sweet to smell. That night they DID feast well, and Big Paws admitted he liked having the rabbits around. Soon they cleaned his house up for him, rearranging the furniture to make the whole place neater. They dug him a basement. They even began to create a little garden.

"I wonder though." He thought out loud as he and the rabbits sat on a hillside by his home, looking at the stars. "Why do all this for me?" He asked. "What do you want? To stay here forever?" He asked. He had figured as such. He'd expected the rabbits to want to stay in exchange for doing all these wonderful things for him.

"Oh no, we've got to return home, good sir." Ella said. "We just knew that you would really like to have your place fixed up. We tried to imagine what it would be like if WE lived like that, and we felt we'd be very sad if we had to live alone in a home where storms ripped holes open in our walls, and foraging for food could get hard. And we didn't want you sad, sir."

"That wouldn't be right, to let a person be sad when you could make them happy." Little Campy agreed.

Big Paws felt tears come to his eyes. He'd never heard such kind, sweet words before. "You're…you're welcome to come here ANY time you'd like!" He told them, hugging them tightly…but not TOO tightly. After all, they had rather weak bodies.

Waving goodbye to their new friend, Ella and Campion returned to their warren to find Chaos and Order were there, clapping their hands, a pleased expression on their faces.

"Your kind are pure and innocent. This will be a boon to you for many, many generations." Order informed the two rabbits.

"Indeed. El-ahrairah…Campion…" Chaos added, addressing both by their full names, "Your kind shall always be innocent at heart. Some will take advantage of you because of that, and your bodies will not be strong enough to beat back the blows they may heap on you in order to force submission. Many will prey upon you for that weakness, but first they must get hold of you, for your agility will make you able to escape the fastest of foes." Chaos laughed gently.

"Keep always your ears and heart open…and your kind shall ne'er die." Order informed the two rabbits.


	4. Chapter 4

"_Knuckles_." Vanilla said, putting her hands on her hips. She was a rabbit/woman with a crop of brown hair atop her head and even longer ears than her daughter, if that was possible. She had the same amber/brown eyes that her daughter had, and was wearing a white shirt with a red midriff and a pink dress below, as red as the fur of the echidna she was facing now, whose dreadlocks fell down long off the sides of his head. He blinked his purple eyes and looked away.

"Hmm." He mumbled.

"Why are you so frightened of the idea of children?" Vanilla wanted to know. White had brought the rabbit along for one very important reason…she was good at causing guilt. Lots of it. It's what mom's did best!

"No offense, but…I happen to be a man. And, well…a dibbun seems to be the worst consequence of sex."

"Trust me, Knuckles, it's **not**." Vanilla said, folding her arms and frowning angrily.

ALMOST A DECADE AGO…

Vanilla held up a bottle of sweet-looking honey as she and her husband sat in a car out in the wilderness. They'd gone on a mountaineering expedition for their honeymoon. "Honey for my honey on our honeymooooon." She told him happily, wearing absolutely no clothes at all. He took off his own clothes as she smeared the honey onto his chest and then started licking. But a few minutes of licking later she stopped at the tip of his chin, eyes widening as she looked at something outside the car.

"Why are you stopping?" Jacquo the Rabbit asked, looking confused as he tilted his head.

The bear outside slammed it's paws into the door.

PRESENT…

"Losing a husband is a MUCH, MUCH worse consequence of sex!" She finished, shaking her head.

"…uh…gee." Knuckles mumbled. "I'm sorry. I ought to be less hard-headed." He admitted, taking Vanilla's hand and squeezing it.

"Don't blame yourself." White said as he poured them some wine to help them relax. "According to my research, stubbornness has been in your kind's blood for eons…"

**THE ECHIDNA**

Living up in the mountains, the sound of their merriment drifting out over the lands and reaching the ears of a thousand other animals, it was clear…the Echidnas were wild beings. Wild and free.

And they LIKED it. They had a nasty sense of humor too…unwelcome visitors who had the cheek to try and climb their mountains without bringing any sort of presents would get quickly pushed right back DOWN the mountain with a sudden shove from a form hidden behind a rock, and laughter would echo in your ears all the way down.

"How I hate them." Oglive mumbled as he folded his arms, sitting with Priscilla and Adam as they looked up at the mountain's hillsides, seeing the Echidnas knock down another group of travelers. Then, to add insult to injury, the poor mice were promptly mooned by the Echidnas, who sniggered before running off. "Well, we know their gift clearly. Strength…and BOORISHNESS!"

"They're all bloody stubborn is what they are!" Priscilla agreed. "They never listen to anybody else, they always think they're in the right. It doesn't matter if one of us goes up to trade with them or just TALK, they think they don't NEED anybody else but themselves!"

"I'm a little tea pot, short and stout! Here is my handle, here is my spout!"

"Oh my." Adam remarked, pointing at a mouse that was left up on the hill, a poor soul which hadn't been pushed down yet. The Echidna leader was tossing stones at his feet, making the little one dance around and sing, and laughing all the while.

"When I get all steamed up, hear me shout! Tip me over and pour…me…"

The Echidna leader did just that. THWONK.

"GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Down and down the mouse went. Luckily Adam ran forward and caught the little one in his arms. The mouse whimpered a few times before Adam set him down and let him join his parents. He glared up at the echidnas on the hill as the leader, Knecapeon Mace, smirked down at them. All of the Echidnas had names very similar to body parts, but when naming a child, they did a sort of "polishing", making it sound much fancier and nicer. "Leg" might become "Legolas". "Arm" might become "Armiril". "Head" might become "Headur". A slightly sad (to the other animals) attempt to hide the fact that their naming system was almost as unoriginal as the bears.

Then again, it could have been worse. They could have been named like the insects were named…by numbers. Poor, poor things.

"I think we ought to teach them a **lesson**." Oglive decided, slamming his fist into his palm. "Time to show them that they can't keep bullying us around!"

"And how are we going to do that?" Adam wondered.

"We take this hillside. Force them back to the upper mountains. And KEEP them there until they learn from their mistakes." Oglive said, eyes narrowing as he clenched his fist.

"Now you're speaking my language." Adam said, grinning. "A good ass-beating does WONDERS for somebody else's ego!"

"We've got to be clever though." Eve said, emerging from the bushes nearby and brushing her hair to the side slightly. "They have strength on their side. And they're so wild…wait…" She got an idea, a glimmer of pure genius appearing for a moment, and she grabbed onto it tightly. "I think I know how to beat them."

The next week, the echidnas were surprised to see Oglive approaching the hill with a big, white flag of surrender in his hands. They looked at each other as Kneecaps stood atop a rock, the wind blowing his long, darkish brown/red dreadlocks. He looked Oglive over with dark purple eyes and spoke up. "Alright, Oglive Maurice…what do you want?"

"I speak for many other animals right now. We want to know what you choose. Peace…or war?"

"War?" A flicker of amusement filled the echidna's eyes. "You'd go to war with US? To stop us from continuing to humiliate you and others like you? I'd like to see you try."

"We will try. And we WILL win."

"You and what army?"

"Me and THIS army!" Oglive roared out, holding the flag high and waving it. At that moment, an ENORMOUS swarm of animals that had been hiding in the bushes at the foot of the hill swarmed up the mountain all at once. The echidnas were taken by surprise and they were being quickly overwhelmed, for strong though they were, not a single order was given by Kneecaps, who stood there on top of his overseeing rock, eyes gaping in shock.

Finally he managed to run for his life and the other echidnas, battered and bruised, followed after as the other animals cheered. The day had been won.

Knecapeon Mace was furious. He stewed in his cave, pacing left and right, eyes narrowed as day after day he sent out scouts to find out when the animals would leave the hill so he and his people could take it back. But all they found was that not a single animal was ready to leave. All of the fighters that had driven them out were staying.

Also, a large group of stags were decorating each other's horns with grooves and markings. Apparently, this was how warriors of their species dealt with coming battles.

"Into HORNS, eh? They into **BOYS **too?" Kneecaps asked his head scout Tobe.

"Well…as a matter of fact…" Tobe trailed off nervously.

Time and time again Kneecaps sent his people out to fight. Time and time again they were chased back. WHY, their leader wondered. WHY?

So finally, he had an idea. He ordered his people out on another battle/raid…but this time, rather than linger behind, he slunk after them, hiding among the rocks and waiting to see what would make them fail.

Soon it became clear. The warriors of his tribe did as they pleased. They spread themselves out too thinly, didn't stick together, TEASED their opponents in battle…small wonder the Echidnas kept losing!

A fury filled Knecapeon Mace. When his people returned to the caves, he immediately blasted every single idiot that had been fooling around on the field of battle. Punches were thrown. Feet went up asses. Butts were handed to people on a silver platter.

"There's gonna be some CHANGES around here." Kneecaps decided angrily, frowning at his people. And indeed, there were. Now he began to DRILL them. They'd practice hitting rocks hewn into the shape of animals, doing jabs and ducks and strikes quickly and efficiently. They'd practice with each other constantly, to the sound of Kneecap's roars of "Left hook! Uppercut! Jab! Duck!"

He'd have them carry heavy rocks all throughout the many caves of the mountains, running alongside them and yelling "LEFT! LEFT! LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT!" They sweated and toiled and bled and finally, at long last, Kneecaps looked upon his toughly-trained army. Not a single one of them had not been worked into a disciplined fighting machine.

And the next day, when the other animals awoke, they saw Kneecapion Mace standing atop a rock, wearing paint upon his face below his eyes, cracking his knuckles.

"Get 'em." He ordered.

The echidnas rushed down from the hills. The battle was utterly one-sided. None of the animals were ultimately a match for the powerful strength of the disciplined echidnas. Ultimately all of them were rounded up and led to Knecapeon Mace, who folded his arms as he looked at Oglive, whom had a black eye and busted nose, with one arm hanging limp, almost broken.

"You were STUPID to take our hill. You should have known we'd take it back." He told the hedgehog.

"Well we couldn't let you keep pushing us down the mountains whenever you felt like it." Oglive said bravely.

And then Knecapeon actually smiled. "No. You couldn't. You're right. And we won't do that anymore. But from now on, if you want to trade or talk with us, you do it PROPERLY. Got it? I want to see chests. Flags. Proper messengers. By the book."

Chaos and Order were pleased at this. The Echidnas had turned their strength into real power with their second gift…DISCIPLINE. They would never be simple, trouble-making rogues ever again. Stubborn, true…but never stupidly childish. That part of them had died. And an interesting friendly rivalry had sprouted between Oglive and Knecapeon. Beating the crap out of another man and then helping him back up could have that effect, you see. And this was one of those times.


	5. Chapter 5

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked Amy as she sat at a table, looking at an old scrapbook with Tails and Cream and Cheese. "You look...really down."

"This is Sally? Your ex?" She asked him.

Sonic gulped as he looked at the brown-furred squirrel below, and he nodded. "Yes. It was...a long...long time ago." He mumbled. "I knew her since childhood, I...we were in love for a long time. I mean, she was smart, and she was funny, and she had the body of a twelve-year-old when she was only 9 years old..."

"JEEZ! Why didn'tcha just MARRY her?!" Amy complained.

"Okay, you know what, I don't think I want to hear you whining about my ex. You WON, Amy. You WON." Sonic told her, taking her arms and looking into her eyes.

"Yeah, I don't wanna hear any more complaining about Sonic's Ex either." Tails admitted.

"I don't think Cheese wants to hear so much anger about Sonic's Ex." Cream added. "You should learn to accept Sonic's Ex!"

"...okay, okay, I'll stop whining about Sonic's Ex." Amy commented.

"Good, because I don't think we could hammer the point in any further." Michael White commented as he looked the scene over from a computer screen. "Boy, I love having cameras everywhere. You see how it works, King? Always be one step ahead."

"So why do you keep...like...FIVE of them...in the women's showers at Station Square gym?" King asked, raising a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Imustalwaysstayonestepahead." White murmured.

**CAT, BIRD, FOX AND HAWK**

"I don't know why yah hate them so much, mah man." Rojo the Robin said, flying overhead of a fox as it walked along in a meadow, hands in it's pockets. The fox's hair was shortly cut, and bluish/grey in color.

"Somethin' bout them pisses me off. REALLY pisses me off. I'd like to give them one big bastard of a black eye, the whole LOTTA them!" The fox muttered as he looked to the far end of the meadow, seeing the object of his dislike.

These were the days where other animals were beginning to really dislike and hate each other. Cruelty had been unleashed into the world. Death was a possibility for many now…and killing had become a profession. It was of this profession that Ay Whitetail belong to. His brothers, Bee and Cee Whitetail were all assassins, hired to kill other animals. Usually they took out bullies of smaller animals not for money's sake, but for the sake of trying their hardest against a supposedly superior force. They lived for continuously getting better at something.

For the cats, it was different though. They were becoming known for being excellent assassins, and none was better than Slit, the sleek-footed female assassin that had the title "Slayer of a Thousand". And they did it not because they wanted to be better...but for the thrill. For fun.

Cats had been all too proud to boast about their gifts. For after the great fight against the echidnas, they told other species that Chaos and Order themselves had approached their kind and told them they would be excellent in the art of killing from then on. Their hand-eye coordination was the finest in the land, and with their keen sense of smell, none could evade them.

The foxes had been the best fighters and killers so far due solely to what they now knew to be sheer LUCK. It was as though Chaos had a plan for them. They weren't sure what to do now, though.

"Our brothers are becoming listless." Ay told Rojo as he sat on a stump with his friend. "We've lost the knack. Those cats could get a knife through a fly on the wall, they could. What the bloody hell are we to do?" He then watched as Slit took aim at a far off bird in the sky and quickly shielded his friend as the bird's cry rang out through the sky. It fell to the ground, shot neatly through the eye as Whit lowered her small pistol, smirking.

"500 feet away and I didn't miss! HA!" She laughed. "Stupid gull."

Rojo rubbed his chin. He had nothing personal against the cats, but that Slit needed to be taught a lesson.

Then an idea came to him. "I have GOT it!" He told the fox happily, bounding up and down. "I've got a friend, mah lad! A wonderful friend. Absolutely lubberly, he'll get the job done! Ah know how to knock those cat's egos down a peg!"

And so, the next day, Rojo the Robin approached a good friend of his…Azul, a Bluejay, who was doing his feathers and looking himself over in a mirror when his friend came a-calling at his home. "Azul, friend, buddy, pal, modest and WISE…"

"Ah no. You always say that when you want favor. Me no give favor."

"Is for friend!"

"Piss off."

"Is for good cause."

**"Piss off!"**

"Will put dah cats in der place, it will!"

"…listenin'." Azul said, eyes narrowing, a sneaky grin stretching across his beak.

That night, Slit and his family were all playing darts, and laughing uproariously as the wine flowed like milk and honey. They banged their glasses on the table, all very inebriated as, even in her drunken state, Slit managed to throw the darts AWFULLY close to the bull's-eye.

"What do you do with a drunken kitty, what do you do with a drunken kitty, what do you do with a drunken kitty, er-lie-in-dah-mor-nin'?" They all sang out, giggling and laughing, some of them actually falling off their chairs and benches in the bar/hotel they were staying in that night. The bartender, a gruff Echidna who was told old for this shit, muttered obscenities in his head.

It was then that he noticed something that brought a smile to his face. Rojo had snuck along the top girders of the mead hall and was aiming for the head of Slit. The bartender calmly turned away to polish a beer mug, but broke into a grin at the SPLUKKA-SPLAT sound which preceded a horrid scream from Slit's throat as Rojo raced through the air out of the hall, with a furious cat running after him, half staggering as he clutched his gun tightly.

"Bomb's away!" Rojo laughed back at the cat as the cat aimed and shot off a round. It went over Rojo's head, but it was very, VERY dark out, and very RAINY too…and the crash of the thunder made it all the harder for the cat to focus. She tried to aim her gun again…but, sadly, she tripped and her face fell in the mud as Rojo cackled.

Now even more furious, Slit began to curse the bird. And she swung her gun in the air, eyes closed, mouth frothing…

She suddenly noticed she was about to step right over a cliff into a watery abyss below. She stepped back…

A blue blur. Azul slammed into her with full force, and Slit the cat dropped into the churning river like a stone. WOOSH. She was floated aaaaall the way downstream, and finally re-emerged, coughing and spluttering and utterly soaking in front of a large crowd of animals.

All of them laughed and laughed at how stupid the waterlogged cat looked. She really was pathetic with all of her lovely clothes now sticking tightly to her from sinking into the water, and wetness sloughing off her whiskers. She mewed unhappily at the sight of her useless, waterlogged gun, and then snarled at the sight of Rojo and Azul as they landed by Ay Whitetail.

"I'll hunt ALL of your kind down! We ALL will for the rest of our lives, I promise!" Slit hissed, pointing a claw at the birds before turning and scampering off to her family to tell of her shame.

Order and Chaos decided that this was to be an excellent block to put in the path of all felines. Forevermore they would be unable to swim any more than a bug could flounder about in a toilet long enough to get out. Whenever they'd fall into a moat, they'd sink like a stone, and never float, Chaos rhymed to his brother. This would be a way to humble cats: getting them wet made them far easier to laugh at and take less seriously, and it would be a way for their prey to escape from them.

It was too bad, Order thought, about those birds being the primary source of blame when it had been the FOX who'd asked the bird for help. Still, the cats were smart. They sensed that Ay Whitetail had a part in it. And so from then on, the two species were even more wary of each other than before.

Ironically…this wariness would be what granted the foxes the chance to discover THEIR gift…

...

...

...

..."So…" Eve placed her head on her hands as she lay on the grass, looking Ay over as he lay over a rock, sunning his stomach. He wasn't wearing anything but a pair of baggy cream-colored pants. "What's been bugging you?" She asked.

"Well…" Ay turned his head to the side. "It's my brothers. Bee and Cee, they…they don't TALK to me anymore." He muttered. "We used to be so close. Now…" He sighed.

"They're just growing up. You're not the same age you once were. Your tastes are different now, aren't they? They're still doing assassin work, you've become a…tinkerer." She said, smiling a little.

It was true. Ay had begun to get ideas in his head. At first it had been elaborate plans for getting rid of prey he was hired to dispose of. He'd come up with new kinds of bullets and weapons, clever traps that would keep his prey closed off until death claimed them in the form of water or gas.

Then THAT had turned into ideas for traps to keep outsiders out of his home. People would usually get launched out of their house into a moat. Or an electric arm would jut out from the wall and push an unlucky soul into the moat.

And THEN he'd put piranha in the moat. So…yes. He'd gotten smarter, as had his brothers, who had begun to appreciate his genius. Intelligence was clearly a fox gift.

"But I don't want to make things that…well, that make others go SPLAT!" Ay remarked at last. "I believe that there's more to life than the destruction of others. I want to create new things. I want to…damn it, I want to do something NEW with my life!"

Ay sat up and sighed sadly, shaking his head. But Eve rubbed her chin. "Well…you could always talk to Chaos." She said at last. "If your life's so boring and uninteresting, he'd sympathize, wouldn't he?"

MMMMM! Ay kissed Eve fully on the lips. "You're a BRILLIANT WOMAN!" He crowed, rushing off for Chaos's home as Eve blinked.

"…well that was weird." She remarked.

Soon, Ay was telling Chaos his story. Chaos rubbed his chin as he looked the fox over. "Well, you're in luck." He said as he let Ay into his home and told him to sit next to a brown-tailed hawk that was nervously looking up from a small poetry book. He had a pair of deeply intelligent-looking blue eyes, something that stuck out at Ay.

"Copper here wants something more out of HIS life too." He told Ay Whitetail. "Ay of the Whitetail clan, you are to take Copper and go to the point where many lights connect the earth to the sky."

This was confusing to Copper as he walked slightly behind Ay, who led the way down a path to the south. "Where many lights collect the sky? What's he talkin' about, sir?"

"I know." Ay reasoned. "Have you ever seen the aurora that occurs around nighttime by the Southern Mountain Range?" He asked Copper. "Lights rise around the mountains at that time…"

"And it looks like earth is connected to sky through the lights?" Copper asked…or rather, was GOING to ask before he fell over his big fat feet and hit the ground, moaning as he rubbed his beak. This had not been the first time he'd done it since they'd started the trip.

"Oh, what's the problem? Can't you walk right? Do I have to do EVERYTHING for you?" Ay muttered, helping the hawk up and slinging his wing/arm around his shoulder. The two walked along, side by side as Copper looked at Ay.

"So you're from the Whitetail clan, right? I've heard about the Bluefurs and the Greysnouts, but not the Whitetails…"

"Our clan is small. Mostly the best known ones are me and my two brothers, Bee and Cee." Ay explained.

"So where are they?"

"That's classified." Ay snapped. "Let's just focus on getting to the mountain range."

"I'm sorry." The hawk apologized, brushing his light-brown feathers nervously as he sighed. "I can just tell that…I can tell that you care a lot about your brothers, but they also cause you a lot of pain. Do they expect a lot from you? Are you the primary breadwinner?"

Ay looked at the hawk. "How'd you guess?"

"My first species' gift, Chaos told me, was one of INSIGHT. I just pick up these things about people." Copper told Ay. "But I'm such a ditz, I just…I keep falling over my own two feet."

"Why don't you just FLY?" Ay asked.

"I…um…" The hawk looked down at the ground, then mumbled out "I can't fly."

Ay felt pity well up in his heart. "…how?" He asked gently.

"Order took flying away from us big birds, from all hawks and eagles. He said we haven't really earned it. I think it's because we keep preying on smaller birds. He doesn't seem to like us getting so close to cannibalism." Copper admitted.

"That makes sense. It goes against his ways." Ay agreed. "I won't tease you for this though. I'll find a way to make Chaos give you all your flight back somehow!" He held up a paw digit. "Pinky swear!"

And so, with that, the two bonded, and Ay felt love for the hawk filling his heart. He found himself wishing that THIS being was his brother, not Bee or Cee. And the closer they got to the mountains, the more and more the two became comfortable with each other. They would sleep close to each other around the fire, telling long and beautiful stories about fun times in their past, and laughing at each other's jokes, no matter how lame the jokes genuinely were.

Higher and higher the road went up the mountain side. It would not be long, Ay thought, before they reached the place where the lights were connecting the Earth to the sky.

Then, one day, disaster came on red wings as Rojo the Robin flew towards the smell of Ay, having followed the scent for three days. Calling out the fox's name, Rojo finally caught up to the two and told them terrible news. His brothers had died while crossing an old bridge that had given way, and the two had been bad swimmers…

Ay collapsed on the ground before the two birds and wept bitterly, covering his face with his paws and sobbing as his only remaining "brother" tried to comfort him. It was then that Chaos appeared with Order by his side, and with a smile, told the fox and hawk that they would give the fox his last gift then and there.

Touching his paws, the fox found a tingling feeling rising up in his body, as beautiful music seemed to fill his ears. He felt…light…free…happy. He found a word rising to his lips as he looked at the hawk…

"_Fly_."

And thus, the hawk soared into the air, and laughed happily as he swirled around and around in the skies, faster than even Rojo could fly. "This is your new gift." Order told the hawk. "You greater birds will always be faster and fly higher than your smaller cousins. The gift was always yours…you simply needed the help of another to fully bring it out."

"Much like YOUR second gift didn't awaken until you'd truly wanted another to comfort you. You had been so closed off from your brothers before, not seeking anything but recognition from them. Now you sought love. Your kind will always have that cursed desire, that fervent obsession to be cared about in some way, but with your intelligence and your natural affinity for magic, you will be able to find the love you want." Chaos told him.

"But now you two must part. You have your own lives to rebuild. Yours will be done in the sky, Copper, and yours on the ground, Ay." Order told the two.

The two "brothers" looked at each other sadly. They would never see each other again, they thought. Embracing one final time, Ay hugged Copper and told him "I will miss you."

"My brother of my heart. I won't forget you." Copper agreed. And with that, he flew into the sky as Ay ran along the path, both off to find new homes. To find a mate. To have children.

Their names would be Ay and Copper.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, lemme ask you something." Silver wanted to know of White.

"Yes?" The albino human asked as he finished typing up the rewrite of a chapter in his story.

"Why don't people like me? It's because of my debut game, right? It's not THAT bad, a lot of the problems are over-exaggerated!" Silver complained, throwing his hands in the air, looking exasperated.

"Yeah, but it was a big let down." White insisted, sighing. "And, also...I think it was the idea of Sonic being kissed by a human. THAT'S what really did it. He was kissed by some human that wasn't somebody else's original character."

"...you're right, that's actually a good reason to hate it." Silver admitted.

"But hey, on the bright side, you said EVERYONE in the future is telekinetic?" White wanted to know, his white hair bobbing as he looked at Silver.

"Yeaaaaah!"

"...wait, that's bad. So...we've got pre-teens and tykes who have the power to kill with their mind." White realized, frowning a little.

"...DAMN you, Shun Nakamura!!!" Silver swore.

**THE SNAKE AND THE MOUSE**

"All hear what is decreed now!"

A nest of snakes had gathered to hear what the serpent known as Chief had to say. Chief was brother to the new ruler over serpentkind, King.

The snakes had elected Czar their leader. He was "The" serpent, you could say. He'd been in charge of them before the gifts of the animals had begun to be known. But after hearing what he'd done to humankind, and how HE'D been responsible for tricking Eve into getting the ball rolling, making sure all of the animals ate of the Tree who's fruit they had not touched…he'd been removed from his position, and his power had been given to the most reliable family member they all knew of…his nephew, King.

Indeed, all serpentkind had "titles" for names. Reeve. Steward. Prince. And the more elite your family, the higher-ranking your name was. King was very, very powerful now, more so than Czar had been, for HE had chosen the gifts for his species, asking for wisdom and for stealth.

And it was now time for him to show his wisdom. He'd had Czar bound and gagged before all serpentkind and was going to send a message. Holding up a scimitar, the blue-jacketed snake brought the sword down over and over onto his uncle as the blood splattered on his green scales. Yellow/golden eyes glowing fiercely with a desire for vengeance that was now being finally sated, King finally stopped, putting the sword away and brushing back the sky-blue, Mohawk-like hair atop his head before picking up chunks of what HAD been Czar and tossing them at the families of serpents gathered around.

They all looked at the chunks of body in horror as King clenched his clawed fists and folded his arms firmly as his brother brushed his own red, spiky hair back and spoke up. "Heh-hem! The same shall be done to ANY unless thy support is given to your new ruler." Chief proclaimed.

"…I think we're good." One squeaked out, looking like he'd wet himself.

King nodded. "Good then." He said. "You may all go." He told them, waving his clawed hand in the air as his tail swept back and forth. He returned to the banks of the river he'd been thinking at before coming up with his plan to get the rest of the snakes in line and smiled at his brother Chief. "What do you think?"

"They won't be foolin' around with YOU, that's for sure." Chief said, sniggering. "I'm going to go get us some lunch." He told his brother.

King then looked down at what he still had in his clawed hands…

The scimitar. He held it up in the air as it caught the light and he could see for a brief moment his uncle Czar's eyes filled with horror…

He vomited into the river, half sobbing. What was WRONG with him? How could he have done that? Yes, he knew that his uncle was evil and would have always been a threat…yes, he had done something terrible in tricking Eve, but…had death been the right way?

King looked to the side and saw a mouse was floating on large, half-leaking boat, looking almost dead. It's body was gaunt and thin, and it was mumbling in it's sleep. King leapt into the water, quickly removing his clothes and sandals as he swam through the river and onto the boat, bringing the mouse out of it and back to the shore. He quickly woke the little thing up and it looked up in clear fear at the serpent.

"D…do it quickly…please just do it quickly…" It whimpered, holding it's paws over it's head.

King felt pity rise in him. He gently held the mouse close to him, stroking her head, feeling her light hair. Her body was tense, her eyes closed in terror, little claws on her feet digging into the grass as her pulse beat like the pounding of a thousand drums. He petted her on the head, stroking her gently until the pulse became softer and gentler.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He told her. "I can't believe that you'd think I would do such a thing. I cannot believe that my KIND would ever do such a thing to innocent beings."

King hated to see other beings suffer, it was true. He'd been rather "soft-hearted" from the moment he was born. He'd not even put up a fight during birth, but had been a quiet, nuzzling-anybody-close-to-him child.

_"If I could kill, who ELSE could? This little mouse?" _He wondered to himself, looking down as the mouse clung to him now, feeling more secure. Truly, he realized, anybody had the potential to kill. Be it their own family or complete strangers…

"Little one, what is your name and where is your home? I'll bring you back." King informed the mouse.

"My name is Sabriel, sir." The little thing said, adjusting the tiny golden necklace it wore. Sabriel.

"A pretty name."

"We're ALL named after angels, sir. And we all live in one forest. It's far to the west…"

Telling Chief he would be going out on a long journey, King travelled with Sabriel to her home, to a beautiful woods, filled with lush trees and flowers larger than a man's head. Within this haven of the green, there was a sight that made King's eyes widen in awe.

It was beautiful. It was golden. It was a bell larger than the trunk of a redwood tree.

_Mine…_he thought. _This is mine._

He decided to make the place the bell was located his new home. He would lovingly caress it at night, rubbing up against it and tapping it slightly, letting sweet sounds emerge. When the wind was strong enough, the bell rang, and tears sprang to his eyes. He felt a love for it. A deep greed, to be sure, but also a sense of…companionship. And he was feeling the same for Sabriel, whom he enjoyed sharing stories with. Tonight...it was her turn to tell a tale.

"And so THEN…" Sabriel grinned as she sat on her back next to King as the two sat above the structure the bell hung in. "Then Ella told the dog to look into his eyes, and the dog, frightened out of his wits by what he'd heard, ran for his life. Ella stole all the lettuce in the garden that day, and returned home to see Campion looking smug, "Campy, my dear brother, what is it?" "You were so successful because of the rumor I've been spreading." He told Ella, looking him squarely in the face. "That you stole from a snake the ability to hypnotize those looking into your eyes." And then…the next thing Campion knew…he was wearing a dress!"

Getting the joke, King smiled broadly and laughed. "Ssss-aaaah-hahaha! Oh, that is a GOOD one." He told Sabriel, nodding his head.

"Tomorrow my husband should be back from his expedition. He is constantly seeking out new lands for us to-" Sabriel then perked her ears up and gasped. "MEN!" She whispered, running to a nearby bush and hiding as King turned his head in time to see descendants of Adam entering the clearing to look at the bell whom he had been guarding. He snarled.

"What do you want? If you're here to steal my bell, you **will not take it!**" He snapped.

"…you…you guard it? Are you enchanted with powers to protect it? Enchanted as the fox?"

King had never heard this word before. "Enchanted?"

"Yes. Do you not know of magic?"

"…tell me of this…_magic_…" King asked, eyes widening in eagerness.

And so, the humans told King that they were people seeking out magical beings such as they, for these humans could do things with the elements. Small things, like lighting fires from their fingers and making a burst of water explode on a rock, among others…but it was new. It was amazing. King yearned to gain magic himself. He decided he wanted to know more.

One night he woke Sabriel up after a meal of fish and berries. "...Sabriel. This...this idea of magic. I want to learn all I can. I want to do something amazing for my kingdom." He whispered to her as he reached up at the sky, trying to feel the stars as if they were a blanket he could grab ahold of and wrap around him and her.

"What is this dream you have?" She asked, rubbing her eyes as they lay by the fire.

"...I want...I want to create a kingdom in which I can use my magical skill to protect all within. I want to make a kingdom in which everyone within will be safe and happy...an immortal kingdom of joy and love." He whispered, eyes widening with awe in that idea.

"Well...we do have some books on magic here." Sabriel told him. "I'll bring them to you in the morning...we'll see what you can learn."

Indeed, he spent many, many nights studying books on magic that his friend Sabriel brought to him. He began, in time, to be able to replicate the moves the human magicians had done…and then he began to become more powerful. Soon he was a skilled black magician, then he became a summoner of considerable skill, then his magical powers grew and he began to get a grip upon forces so strong even foxes began to fear his strength.

Sabriel prayed for an answer. She knew King truly wanted not power for power's sake, but because he wanted to have it protect all his people, all he cared for. It was a kind of greed, but it was not a heartless one. She prayed each night so deeply that some of the other mice wondered if she was drunk…she asked for a type of power that would not simply destroy those that would harm the ones he loved. Was there not a kind of magic that could do only good and never evil? Bring only light, and not dark?

And then they came. In beautiful robes and wings they descended from the sky and with their words, King knew what he had to do.

White magic. _Bios_. Advanced white magic was known as "_Zoe_". These powers could heal wounds, bring what was dead back to life…

"Would it not be wonderful?" King asked happily as he looked up at the clouds, Sabriel sitting by his side with her husband Michael and her child, Zauriel. "A world in which people slain could be living and laughing and embracing their beloved once again, in which I would heal wounds with a simple flick of my finger…a kingdom without true death, which could overcome the worst suffering. Nobody would ever have to die…"

"It does sound nice." Sabriel admitted, nuzzling her husband. "I don't know what I'd do without Michael."

"Honey, don't ever think like that. I won't leave you. Death itself couldn't hold me for long." Michael said lovingly.

"I wouldn't leave you either, momma." Zauriel said, hugging his mother tightly.

"I believe you're a good leader, whether you learn white magic or not, you'll always be a good leader." Sabriel insisted to King. "Because you're wise, you're smart, and you want to do right for your people without harming others."

Their bodies were small, but they too had wisdom like he did, King thought to himself. He smiled. "Your words are kind, Sabriel. I thank you."

"God has given me a vision." Sabriel said. "Your cousin in the far-off lands has the ability to grant you what you want. And he wants me to come with you."

That night they set out on the river, the quickest way to the far off Eastern lands. Floating calmly on a raft, King nibbled at some berries as they watched the clouds pass overheard.

"That one looks like...a duck." She decided.

"Hmm, it does." King admitted. "That one...it..." He pointed at another cloud. "Looks rather like a king carp...or perhaps a catfish?"

"You sure do like fish." Sabriel admitted, giggling slightly, holding a paw over her mouth.

"Well, I'm trying to cut back on all of it." He said. "Become a total vegetarian." He insisted. "Yes, there's no way I'd want to try and-"

_Boy I'd like to nibble on your neck_

He stopped. Stiffened. Where had that thought come from? It had just..popped into his head!

"...I'm...going to take a nap." He decided, turning on his side and trying to drift into sleep. "Let me know if we encounter any trouble."

His sleep was not peaceful. He tossed and he turned, thinking about a desire to eat something. Something raw. Juicy. MEATY.

He wanted MEAT!

Sabriel was meat.

Food?

Yes...yes, she was food, she was-

NO, he thought. Sabriel is not food. Sabriel was a friend. A dear, dear-

He awoke to the taste of bitter iron in his mouth and saw Sabriel's hand was stuck in it. He gasped as he let go and shrunk away from her. "Oh no." He whimpered as she looked at her bloodied hand. "I...I have to...I should go, I...."

"It's not your fault." She said softly, shaking her head. "I know you've been trying to resist your kind's natural desire for meat for a long, long time. It's not YOU. It's the hunger."

"...I'm sorry." King whispered, covering his face in shame. "I don't know if I can hold it back until we reach my cousin..."

And, unfortunately, he couldn't. In a few days, his hunger drove him into a state of mind that made him feel as though he was swimming through a red haze. Everything became a reminder of his food...the scent of Sabriel...he tasted the air with his tongue over and over, taking it in, getting drunk off the scent...he yearned for her flesh...

He tried to ward it off. He tried fishing. But the river was not giving up any bounty. And there were no other animals that lived along the river...or rather, if there WERE, they never appeared to our twosome.

One night his hunger got the best of him. His scimitar cut off her arm. He enjoyed a fine dinner.

And his senses returned as her arm digested in his stomach, making him sob and scream, clutching his head.

Sabriel spoke soothingly, caressing his head.

And a few days later the hunger returned. He cut off her leg.

Sabriel spoke soothingly, caressing his head.

A few more days later, he took the other leg, eagerly eying her stomach, wanting to open her up and suck out the pulp.

Sabriel spoke soothingly, caressing his head. It wasn't his fault, she insisted. It was the hunger.

One night he felt it reach out to him again. That dark hunger. He couldn't take it. He just couldn't take it. He held his head up, planning to plunge it into the river and drown, but then-

Light.

Beautiful, beautiful light of a thousand colors shimmering off a long, serpentine body. The enormous anaconda rose up from the riverbank as they came before him.

"Why have you come?" King's cousin, the Lord of the Dreamtime inquired.

"My will doesn't matter...please...help her." King begged, holding Sabriel up.

The large anaconda lowered his head, his eyes glittering with deep intelligence. His tongue flicked over her wounds...and before King's eyes, they slowly healed. King smiled broadly and bowed his head. "Thank you." He whispered happily.

"I am grateful that you sought her well-being first, but...I have bad news to impart upon you." His cousin spoke softly, sadly.

"What?" King asked.

"You see White Magic...but..."

...

...

...

... "Don't fret." She insisted as she sat by King on the riverbank. He was desolate. His golden eyes were mesmerized by the dancing flame they'd erected that night, as he could hear his cousin's denial over and over…

_I can't teach it to you…_

_I can't teach it to you…_

_I can't teach it to you…_

But there was something that he HAD given to King and to his mousey companion. A revelation was given to the female mouse...by orders from above, the gift of Holiness had been given to mice. They would have a connection to God, and from ow on Sabriel would have a new name...she was to be Lady Hannah, which meant "Grace". A fitting name, considering the circumstances.

And King? What had he been given? There was ONE bit of magic that he'd been granted. Now the hunger that so plagued many other predators would never return to him again. His cousin had allowed him to conquer it...he would be a vegetarian from now on.

Kissing her on the paw, King bid her farewell, and she went to return to her husband. King was satisfied with what he had. He didn't NEED white magic. Not now. He could protect the ones he cared for with the power he'd already learned. Returning to his people, King became a just, kind and well-beloved ruler, and his magical skills were known far and wide.

From then on, Mice became monks and ministers frequently, and whenever King passed by a church, he would think of Hannah's smile, and hear her voice telling jokes whispering upon the wind.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh, hey there, Cream!" A voice called out as Cream sat at the beach with Cheese, building sandcastles with her little friend. She turned her head to look at the person who was speaking and noticed a very plant-like being with sparkling blue eyes, a green and white leafy body, and delicate-looking hands. She had a red gem on her chest and had little "buds" on her head to act as small ponytails of sorts.

"Ah, Cosmo, how are you doing? You sure do look pretty!" Cream remarked, looking Cosmo over and putting the blue bucket she was using down.

"Oh, and how THIN you are, Cream!" Cosmo remarked, placing a hand on her chest. "I MUST learn your secret!" The actress said. She was a famous actress for a show based off of Sonic and his friends, an "adaptation" of sorts of the adventures they'd had called "Sonic X", which had been funded by a friend of the gang, a human named Christopher Thorndyke who happened to be super rich...and thanks to the success of Sonic X, super famous.

"Mmm." Cream mumbled.

"Mmm." Cosmo agreed.

_"Still nippin' those buds, eh uggo?"_ Cream thought.

_"Eat death, you overweight little tart." _Cosmo thought.

"Can't you do something about our honeys...hatred?" A yellow-furred being asked. He had a tuft of hair at the front of his body, a rather large tail, a white belly and blackish/blue eyes. This was Ray, the Flying Squirrel. He was sitting with a two-tailed orange/yellow fox...Tails himself.

"Sonic always says the only things you can bring to a catfight are popcorn and drinks." Tails insisted, shaking his head.

"I just realized something. I've never seen you working with spells of any kind, only technology. Why do you not tap into your magical roots?" Cosmo asked as she walked over to the two of them with Cream, knowing perfectly well that Cheese was making faces at her, and also knowing that Cream was not going to stop. "Foxes are natural magic-users."

"I don't need it. Ah, but sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I'd gone the way of my ancestors...it was a simpler time, I guess." Tails admitted. "A time where there was no such thing as an anime, so there was nothing that a fanfic could rip off, for example...and three people getting killed during a sporting event was a "tragedy" not, say, the natural outcome of a heated Red Sox/ Yankees game..."

"Love was probably simpler then too..." Ray sighed.

**THE BUTTERFLY AND THE DOG**

It was an ordinary day for the Dog. He wasn't anybody special, and he was fine with that. He was a "dime-a-dozen", a hard-working drummer boy who happened to spend most of his time looking after wild sheep and just writing in his diary-er, journal. He put pen to lip, brow furrowed, his tawny fur glinting in the morning light as the sheep took a nap around him.

"I think that I shall never see...a dog as inaccurately drawn as me." He decided, putting it into the diar-journal.

To be truthful, he didn't really like his job too much. Yes he could eat one or two wild sheep each week if he did a good job and tonight was that special night. Yes, he had lots of time to himself to be "creative". But what he really wanted was the hand of this lovely little Hyena girl in town. They had chosen to be funny and clever when the time had come to pick their "Gift", but they'd been cursed with cruelty. Still, the Dog, Dodger, was sure that love could cure his girlfriend Hattie.

He decided to write down another poem. "I see when I...look into the sky...something flying very-huh?" He blinked, putting the pen down into his dia-journal.

A butterfly floated down to him, looking rather cheerful. She had orange and black wings...Monarch's wings. She had a small little brown cap atop her head and slightly baggy yellow pastel pants with a light blue shirt that was tight-fitting to match. And...her eyes...they had that same orange/black blend. Combined with the prettiness of her wings and her clothes, she fit the "Gift" that her species had been given...she was beautiful just as he was loyal.

Then she opened her mouth.

"Howdy-do, stranger." She said in a grainy kind of voice, all chipper and cheerful. "Watcha-doin'?" She wanted to know.

"I'm guarding these wild sheep." He said as one of the sheep awoke, sniffing the butterfly over. "Who might you be?"

"Call me Dew. As in Dew on the Morning Grass, that's my full name. We're all "artsy", but I think that being called by my full name sounds too stuffy, so just call me Dew."

"Alright, then "Dew" it is." I'm Dodger." Dodger said, taking her hand and shaking it, grinning kindly. Dogs also had the gift of Friendliness. It was very hard for somebody not to resist their cheerfully big grin.

"Is that...poetry?" Dew asked, looking at the di-journal that Dodger kept.

"Yes, this is my Poetry Diary." Dodger explained, holding it up. "I mean, journal!"

"Can I see?" Dew wanted to know.

"Well...okay." Dodger agreed nervously, handing it over. Dew looked it through, looking rather amused.

"I can tell you really like this girl named "Hattie"." She said. "I have a very good friend with that same name! And just LOOK at all the poems you've written about her. "H is for the Happiness she brings me, A is for the Amazing-"

"Okay, please, not so loud, you'll make the sheep wake up." Dodger said, though he was really saying this because he was blushing like a ripe tomato.

...

...

...

...that night the two of them sat together, eating wild sheep roasted over a hot fire, flavored with wild garlic and pepper as Dew sucked away on a big batch of cherries she'd picked from the nearby fields. "This is very good." She said. "But...do you always eat alone?"

"Well, sometimes Hattie comes up to visit me. And we talk. Mostly about my job and how she works at the butcher shop in town." Dodger remarked, chewing on a leg of wild sheep.

"...does she talk about you? I mean, you personally?" Dew wanted to know.

"...why would she? My job IS me." Dodger said, shrugging.

"Does she ask about your dreams? Or talk about what she likes to do? Do you, like, lookit the stars?" Dew wanted to know. She seemed bothered.

"Well...what do you mean by "dreams"?"

Dew looked at Dodger and felt sad. "C'mon, you know!" She insisted, not really wanting to believe what she was hearing. "What you plan to do someday."

Dodger looked confused. "This IS what I plan to do someday. Tomorrow I'll write some more poems. Then I'll go and talk to Hattie about building a home nearby so we can watch the sheep together."

_"...that's...it?"_ She asked. "You just wanna get married? Be close to her?"

"Making that hyena happy is what I want to be best at." Dodger insisted proudly.

Dew felt very sad as he said that. "...did you say...hyena?" She murmured.

"Yep!"

Dew tried to look cheerful. "Well, that's...good for you! I...I think I'll just be getting to sleep." She said, lying on the ground on a blanket Dodger had brought. He smiled down at her and then rested his own head on a different blanket, though Dew was not truly asleep. She sadly looked over at him, wishing she could tell him the truth.

...

...

...

... "Why can't you tell him?" She wanted to know of Hattie as the hyena put some makeup on her lips, her frizzy hair bouncing.

"He's someone to kill time with and I get all the roasted wild sheep I want when I visit him every week." Hattie explained, shrugging as she put the lipstick away and turned to look at Dew, who had gone to see Hattie in her room, which she had in the attic of the town's butcher shop. "Why shouldn't I take advantage of a good deal?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Dew remarked. "He worships your face. He thinks your nose should be displayed as a work of art. He wants you to be his steady sweetie!"

Hattie blinked a few times. Then she began to laugh that horrid, cackling "HEE-HEE-HAA-HA-HA" hyena laugh.

"Well I ain't tellin' him!" She insisted at last, wiping a tear away. "You wanna wreck his world, go ahead!" She sneered at Dew. "But if you do that...you'll have to admit what you are. EXACTLY..." She stood up and began inching closer, licking her lips. "WHAT...YOU..."

She grabbed ahold of Dew's arms and pulled her close. "ARE."

And with that, she placed her lips on Dew's, kissing feverishly, and Dew couldn't resist. She returned the kiss as the two moved over to the wall, bumping into it slightly as they snogged away.

...

...

...

... Dew nervously bit her lip as she approached Dodger, who was closing his d-IT'S A DIARY, okay?!? It's a friggin' diary despite whatever the heck Dodger said!

"...Dodger...er...listen, there's something I need to tell ya." Dew said. "The thing is, Hattie can't really...stay with you." She murmured. "Not because she doesn't like you, but because..."

"Why?" Dodger asked, confused.

"Because it would be a lie. She..._she likes GIRLS_."

Dodger blinked a few times, rubbing his head. "...oh." He remarked. "Well...gee. I never thought it'd end like this, just because I've got no tits." He mumbled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She remarked, sighing as she sat down near him, folding her hands in her lap. "Sometimes I just wish I was a guy instead of a girl. Then Hattie wouldn't be attracted to me anymore. She's just so...NASTY to me. But...but she sure can kiss, can't she?" She asked Dodger.

"I wouldn't know." Dodger mumbled.

"Well...what're we gonna do?" Dew asked.

The two thought about it for a long, long time...and began to look at each other, leaning in and...

Then they stopped. "What're we doing?" Dew asked.

"...I dunno." Dodger commented, shrugging. "I guess...you tried to kiss me?"

"Woah, hold up. YOU tried to kiss ME!" Dew insisted.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-huh!"

**"Nuh-uh!"**

**"Yuh-huh!"**

This went on for quite a long time...so much so that the sheep actually wandered off while the two were arguing, and Hattie, grinning to herself, decided to make off with them. One by one she snuck up behind the wild sheep and stuffed them into a sack, bringing them to her butcher's shop. It was the perfect crime.

...

...

...

...the next day, Dew walked into the butcher's shop to talk to Hattie about Dodger, only to find that everyone in town was going crazy about how much better Hattie's new meat tasted than her normal fare. In fact, they said it was as delicious as the wild sheep that Dodger raised and roasted out on the hills.

If Dew had been a smart girl, she would have realized the truth. But, sadly, she and Dodger shared stupidity. She just shrugged and decided to go tell Dodger about the new meat. He was confused too, but didn't make the connection either. He decided, since the sheep were gone, that he was going to become a professional poet instead.

And it was a good thing he did, because what happened next would have ruined the sheep-ranching business. People began falling sick due to Hattie's poor handling of the sheep meat. She'd never properly cooked sheep before...thus, though made delicious by herbs, the meat was too raw. In their fury, the townspeople threw stones and chairs through her butcher shop's windows, and Hattie ended up on the street.

And, surprisingly, Dodger's poetry, while simple, got him a job at the local elementary school, teaching young children with Dew becoming an art teacher. They would sneak off during lunch period to kiss, and both were unaware that once, just once, their curse of stupidity had helped them rather than hurt them...though they thought back to that "Day the Sheep Went Missing" sometimes, and ALMOST made the connection between Hattie and the sheep.

But hey, almost isn't the same as "did". Just like Dodger's poetry diary wasn't the same as a journal...despite his protests.

It **WAS** a diary, dammit. :(


	8. Chapter 8

**SPLASH!**

"Ahhhhh." Tails said as he and Ray relaxed with their girlfriends at the beach, watching the Chaotix play around nearby...or, rather, MOST of them. Espio was standing utterly still. He was trying to do meditation.

Charmy had taken the opportunity to cover his entire body with sand from the feet up. Since Espio was in such a deep, meditative state, he couldn't actually FEEL what had happened to him. Vector stayed quiet, not wanting to give away what was happening to the ninja. Meanwhile, Mighty the Armadillo was standing on the side of the beach, looking out at the water. He was a black-skinned armadillo with a thick red shell, piercing blue eyes and a pointed black nose with a tanned chest and lower face. He was not wearing his shoes at the moment, but instead, red sandals.

"Oh, do you not want to go into the water?" Cosmo asked him.

"Oh. So now a brother can't swim, huh?!" Mighty snapped, a bit annoyed.

"Sorry, I...didn't know you COULD swim. Because-"

"Because I'm black?" Mighty asked, sighing deeply.

"No...I just don't think Armadillos CAN swim." Cosmo mumbled, scratching her head.

"Sigh..." Mighty rolled his eyes. "Look, uh...I can swim fine. And there's a big reason why my people can, one that goes back **ages**. Y'know about how Hedgehogs got their gift of speed and courage?"

"Yep. I know a lot about the "Gifts" the different sapients got. Monkeys have dexterity, but no manners, Pigs have excellent taste in food but huge hygiene, turtles are wise but slow-"

"THAT'S it." Mighty pointed at her. "The turtle, you see. That's where it goes back to. Lemme tell you how we Armadillos came to be." He explained, sitting down as Espio suddenly opened his eyes and looked down, seeing he was completely encased in sand, looking like his head was sticking out of an ant hill.

"What the fu-"

**THE ARMADILLO AND THE WOLF**

Not all of the animals in the beginning of first life lived peacefully together in cities. And some didn't even live in the cities at all. This was something that really got Order annoyed with his brother.

"Look!" He insisted angrily, pointing down from a cloud at the jungle below. "Law of the Jungle, Kill or Be Killed! They're still going after each other, so much violence and hatred...don't they "get" it yet?"

"Oh, relax. Life is pretty good right now!" Chaos laughed. "It's perfect!"

"It's disorganized, uncertain and nobody down there knows what the HELL they are doing." Order argued.

"Like I said, perfect." Chaos insisted, waving his hand in the air. "Now I'm going to go down and just...mingle." He said, jumping down from the cloud as Order folded his arms.

"...my brother is a moron who won't listen to reason." He decided, frowning darkly. "...I need to do something about him...SOMETHING..." He murmured, his eyes narrowing.

Now within the jungles of the Amazon was a Hedgehog. He had rather stubby quills like the setting sun, and he spent much time with a dear friend of his, a slow-pokey turtle who was, at the moment, berating his friend.

"How dumb are you?" He asked Koutch, frowning as he folded his arms. He'd painted his shell a very lovely shade of black, and he had a slightly large muzzle, with steely grey eyes that were looking his tinted-glasses-wearing friend over. "Drugs are bad, pure and simple. It kills your brain, makes you dumb, you could get arrested for it, and they're addictive, making them really hard to get OFF of. Why waste your day with them when you could be making constructive use of your time?"

"Wow, Kipling. it took you ten seconds to say what it would take thousands of dollars and half an hour for an afterschool special to get across. Nice. This next one's for you." Koutch said, holding up a doobie. He tried to put it to his mouth, but then dropped it, gasping at what had just appeared behind his friend.

A wolf. And it looked nasty. Young, yes, but...nasty. He had a scraggly shirt on his form and was wearing only a pair of dark shorts. He held up a switchblade knife and grinned slightly. "Well-well. Whadda we gots here?" He asked, speaking in a thick, Brooklyn accent. "You shoulda known bettah than to hang 'round my turf."

This wolf's gift of power and loyalty meant he was all about upholding the honor of his territory. Unfortunately he didn't know much about turtles and hedgehogs. He only knew that if you found a hedgehog, drop him in the water. He'd freak out and become easy prey. And to simply get at a turtle, you had to scoop him out of his shell with your claws or a tool, like a knife...like a knife like HE had right now.

The problem was he wasn't sure which one of these two was the turtle and which was the hedgehog. He'd heard about them, but had not actually seen them. He couldn't even spell the word "shell"...or know what a shell was. Geez, where did he live, out in the sticks or some-**oh**.

"Now then, which wunna youse is a turtle? I' supposed to scoop a turtle outta his shell with this ol' thing." He said, waving his knife in the air. "And I'm a droppin' the hedgehog in da water."

"You SURE that's what you're supposed to do?" Koutchie asked. "Perhaps you have to drop a TURTLE into the water, not a hedgehog."

"Yes, he would know better than you, he IS a turtle after-" Kipling then slapped his stubby hands over his mouth. "Oop!" He mumbled out through his mouth. "Uh, I mean, I'm lying! Oh, I'm just an AWFUL liar, he's not a turtle!"

"Nice tryyyyyy." The wolf, who was named Mick, sniggered. "Now I know you're a turtle. Now to scrape you outta your shell! C'mere!" He leapt at the hedgehog...

Who, naturally, curled up into a prickly ball on the spot. SPLORCKA!

"YEEEOOOOWW!" Mick screamed as Kipling dove off into the nearby river, with the hedgehog rushing away. "SONOFA!!!" He snarled.

...

...

...

... "We got lucky." Kipling sighed sadly as he folded his arms and leaned against a tree with Koutchie. "We might not be able to trick him a second time. We need to think up some way to get him to stay away from us for good. His type will keep coming after us until he's GOT us."

"Well how WE supposed to watch our butts, dude?" Koutchie asked, scratching his head as he leaned back and forth on a nearby log, blinking a few times. "It's not like I can learn to swim."

"...maybe...you **can**." The turtle commented, frowning slightly. "If the water is just shallow enough, shallow enough to **swim** in but not **DROWN** in...I could teach you how to swim!"

"And if you did a little work on those back-plates you've got, you could give yourself some better room to curl up and roll away!" Koutchie told Kipling. "C'mon, we've got work to do!" He said, grabbing ahold of Kipling and tugging him off through the jungle as they headed to a nearby watering hole.

**BGM: Montage, by Trey Parker**

(The turtle and the hedgehog are now at the watering hole, and Kipling stands in a lifeguard chair, calling out through a bullhorn as he forces Koutchie to stroke, stroke, stroke as several nearby flamingoes look at the idiots that are fooling around in their drinking water. They groan and walk off)

_**The hours approaching, to give it your best,  
You've got to reach your priiiime!  
That's when you need to put yourself to the test,  
And show us a passage of time!  
We're going to need a montage!  
Ooh, it takes a montage!  
**_

(Mick has now places several badly-drawn renditions of Kipling and Koutchie on a dummy's head, and he is swirling around, slicing and dicing at them, dressed up as a ninja for some strange, strange reason. He finally cuts the head off one of the dummies, taking off his head cover.)

_**Show a lot of things happing at once,  
Remind everyone what's going on!  
And when every shot you show a little improvement,  
Just show it all or it will take too long!  
That's called a montage!  
Ooh, we want montage! **_

(Now it shows that Koutchie has given Kipling a gag and some pain killers as he holds up a chainsaw, about to cut off some of the shell that Kipling has. Kipling cowers, covering his head and closing his eyes)

_**Learn anything that you want to know,  
From just a beginner to a pro,  
You want a montage!  
Even "Rocky" had a montage!**_

(Mick is now doing punches to a big slab of meat, huffing and puffing before he finally raises his boxing gloves in the air, hooting)

_**Learn anything that you want to know,  
From just a beginner to a pro,  
You want a montage!  
Even "Rocky" had a montage!  
**_

(Now the scene shows two shadowy figures who are looking out over the jungle. They turn to each other and mouth "It's on")

_**Always fade out in a montage...  
If you fade out...  
It seem like more time has passed...in a montage...  
Montage...**_

...

...

...

...Mick was cocky as hell today. It had taken three weeks of training, but he was ready. "I...AM...da greatest!" He exclaimed as he headed towards the river, smelling the familiar scents of the two who had "gotten away". There was something vaguely...off...about the scents, but he didn't pay any REAL attention to it...

Until he saw the changes. And he gaped.

Both of them had a large shell hanging down, but it didn't completely cover their body. In fact, it didn't even reach their tail. Furthermore, the shell wasn't wimpy...it was strong, and tough. And, more amazing, they were both in the river! **Both** of them!

"Wh...what the hell?!" Mick gaped. "Ain't you dat hedgehog?" He asked the first one.

Koutchie shrugged. "I guess I was." He admitted. "But...look!" He splashed around. "I can swim now! HA!" He sniggered.

"And...and that makes you that stoopid turtle, right?" Mick asked the second one.

Kipling nodded. "I was, true. But...watch this." He said, grinning before he curled up into what was unmistakably a ball, just like a hedgehog could, but a turtle certainly couldn't do!

"...what the hell ARE you now?!?" Mick wanted to know.

"Well, uh...hmm." The two shrugged, then swam away as Chaos, who had been watching it all from behind a bush, hidden away, grinned broadly. A new, strange change...now this was interesting! He went to go to talk to his brother, who was sitting in a tree some miles away, taking violin and playing it.

"What are you doing?" Chaos asked. "Why are those flies going around and around that log you've stuck in the ground?"

"Watch what happens when I play in a lower key." Order said. "See?" he insisted as the flies began to spin around. "I...have created ORDER out of Chaos! Through the power of music, I have brought a new level of order to these beings."

"How'd you lure them-oh." Chaos noticed a very, VERY dead buffalo stuck up on the top of the large log, impaled through the chest. "...did...YOU do that?" He asked, a bit nervous.

"Yep. And it took great difficulty!" Order commented calmly.

"...well, uh...see, there's a new species in the world." Chaos said, putting this incident out of his head. "What couldn't swim is now swimming and what couldn't curl up is now curling up, and they have their share of prickly scales, and they can roll around and around in circles. But...I don't know what to call them." He admitted, shrugging.

"How about...uh..." Order looked at Chaos. "Armadillos?"

...

...

...

... "And so..." Mighty said, leaning back in the water as he sighed happily, looking up at the sky. "THAT's how a brother can swim." He told Cosmo as she lay on a floaty-bed nearby.

There was then a loud scream and a furious Espio tossed Charmy through the air. He collided with Mighty, sinking them BOTH into the water, and Cosmo laughed so hard she fell off the floaty.

"Hee-ya-ha-HA." Espio snickered slightly, standing nearby as Vector covered his face with a newspaper, pretending not to notice, and not noticing he was reading upside-down.


	9. Chapter 9

"I've got a lot of work to do." Knuckles said as he began to re-arrange some furniture that was scattered around the Shrine of the Master Emerald. The slightly peach-colored echidna Tikal, wearing tribal attire with a headband to match, walked up the steps with a large amount of flowers in her arms, as a water-based creature stepped alongside her. It had sort of...a "horn" atop it's head and two small protrusions on each side of it's face, with green eyes and what appeared to be a BRAIN floating in the center of it's watery head. It too carried flowers, though they were...waterlogged.

"**This is annoying."** The watery being admitted as he placed the flowers down. **"Why are we getting these again, Tikal?"**

"I told you, Chaos." Tikal insisted to Chaos, who blinked his green eyes slowly. "The scent of flowers do wonders for newborn children. We're going to decorate the whole place for when Rouge comes back from the hospital." She informed them all. "Do you know the sex of your newborn yet, Knuckles?"

Knuckles nervously blushed. It was times like this that he wished he wasn't so dead-set on traditions and had something like, say, a cell phone on the island.

"No." He admitted.

"No matter. But after we bring the child here, we'll definitely need to build a decent home. You and Rouge may be happy living in the shrine, but you'll need something more for the baby." Tikal insisted, nodding her head.

**"She's only happy because she can rest her head on that emerald...or sleep on it. Or stroke it."** Chaos muttered. He found it annoying. And creepy, too. **"If she loves it so much, why did she not marry ****it**** instead of ****YOU****?"**

"Hmph." Knuckles mumbled, taking a rag from off a nearby pedestal and cleaning off a squashed bug from the Master Emerald. "Another thing I'll need to do is teach my son to fight. One day HE'LL be protecting the Master Emerald."

"What makes you so sure it'll be a boy?" Tikal laughed.

**"Maybe you'll have a beautiful baby girl."** Chaos argued.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but the traditions of my people have kept us-" Knuckles began.

Tikal sighed and folded her hands on her hips. "Knuckles...thanks to the traditions of our people, we are the last Echidnas alive from your clan."

It was true. Rather than bother to, say, try and form some kind of peaceful coexistence with the only other large clan of echidnas around, the Nocturnus clan, the Knuckles clan had chosen war. Yes, they were really called the "Knuckles" clan. Because they all had large knuckles. Clearly years of advancement in social norms hadn't changed their society THAT much.

"...okay, okay. It's just hard sometimes for me to think of putting another woman through what I've had to go through. Rouge doesn't mind the duty of guarding the Master Emerald with me because she loves this thing." He told them all, tapping the top of it. "But if I had a daughter, I want her to get out there! To...to live life. To experience what I didn't get to for so long."

"**Yet you don't want that for your son?"** Chaos inquired.

"It's just...a son has to carry out a duty that his family gives him. A girl has to find her own duty. This is how it's always been." Knuckles told them, sighing slightly.

"Look, red." A voice called out, making them all turn to listen to the accent of a Southern Belle. "Girls can do just as much as guys can if they have the chance...and they don't need to be "protected" from some duty!"

**THE BAT AND THE CROC**

"Take it back."

"Will not."

"Take it BACK!"

"Uh-uh."

"TAKE IT **BACK**!"

This is how life works. People will get into disagreements over things like the nature of life and death, politics, religion...and they will usually start off as trying to be reasonable, appealing to the better nature of others.

And THEN they resort to violence and name-calling. Like so.

"I'm telling you, guys are just better at this stuff than girls." The crocodile said. He had set up a kind of handmade punching bag out of meat and was punching the crap out of it as it hung in a freezer. His friend was freezing her tootsies off, but winning this argument was more important than, say, frostbite.

Hey, they were both teenagers. Give them a break.

"Guys are NOT better fighters than girls!" The bat, Riza, insisted to her friend, Terry, the crocodile. "We can be just as good at kicking ass as you, ya chauvinistic pig."

"I EAT pig for breakfast." The croc laughed.

"Oh, you're impossible." Riza moaned, rolling her eyes as she folded her arms and her wings, her tuft of tan hair bobbing slightly. "What would it take to prove to you that you're wrong?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just..." The croc delivered an uppercut to the sack of meat. "Beat up the Behemoth in the jungle."

Riza blinked a few times, mouth gaping open for a moment or so. Then she shut it. "Fine. Done." She said proudly.

Terry stopped punching the meat and turned around, grinning darkly. "You REALLY wanna fight the Behemoth?" He asked. "You know that grown men go up against it and end up running away, crying!" He cackled. "It's the most powerful thing in the forest, and I know power! All us Crocs and 'Gators have power and defense going for us! Fighting is in our blood!"

"I can take it." Riza said. "I don't care how large it-"

An idea hit her. She smirked. Yes. Yes, actually, this was PERFECT.

"How about a bet?" She asked as she and Terry left the meat locker and headed out of the butcher's shop, out into the town. "I beat it...you have to do everything for me for TWO WEEKS. Trim my nails, do my hair, buy me stuff..."

"Fine, but if **I **win...you have to do all that **I** want you to do for two weeks. Do we gotta deal?" Terry asked, holding his hand up.

They shook in the middle of the street. The pact was made.

...

...

...

...so...what WAS the Behemoth, I hear you ask? Well, it was...hmm. How to best put it in a way you could understand...

Uh-uh-ugly and eeeeeenormous. Huge, flopping ears with burning red eyes and nostrils bigger than trash can. Teeth as huge as the tops of spires on a church, a thick hide of dark purple fur, red horns larger than any bulls, and a smell like something had crawled into your refrigerator and died. Combined with a spiked, lashing tail, curling claws and bloodshot eyes...it looked like something from out of the depths of Hell and smelled ten times worse than it looked.

Which was already pretty freakin' bad.

Riza folded her arms as she watched the thing swish it's tail back and forth. It was in the middle of an enormous ring of stones, facing down a strong, able-bodied panther that was holding her paws up. The she-panther's paws were burning with dark flame as she licked her lips, a tattoo spreading across her body from her eyes as she rushed forward and began to kick and punch the Behemoth, forcing it back around the ring of stones as a large crowd cheered and hootered.

"C'mon, harder, harder!" A human yelled.

"Kick 'em in the nuts!" One pig called out.

"I can't see, move outta da way!" A dog demanded furiously.

"Jeez, this girl might beat it before I...no, wait. She won't." Riza realized as she noticed that though the she-panther was doing a good job in this sudden onslaught of the thing, she wasn't noticing the spiked tail that was snaking around the back of her. It grabbed her leg and tossed her through the air, then slammed into her midsection, knocking her to the ground with a THUNKA-THUD.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" A monkey in a tree chattered, banging on a gigantic gong. BA-DOOOOOONG! "And Rain is down for the count! Once again, folks, the score is still "Visitor" 0, with the Behemoth racking up...how many is that?" It asked the large monstrosity.

The thing scratched it's head. It shrugged.

"I THINK 202." The monkey commented, holding up a small chalkboard in the tree limb it was sitting on and writing down with a piece of chalk the score "0-202". Riza wondered why the Behemoth didn't talk. It was clearly intelligent enough to get this wrestling ring set up and was obviously smart enough to appreciate being praised...

It pointed at the next opponent and leered, giving a "c'mon" gesture with it's thick claws. This time it was Terry who decided to give it his best shot. He punched the air a few times as he faced down the enormous beast.

Rushing forward, he jumped over it's long tail and leapt into the air, slamming his fist hard into it's jaw. A tooth went flying out...BAM! ALMOST impaling one of the crowd members.

"Watch iiiiit!" The angry bird snapped.

"Hey, it missed ya, didn't it?" Terry remarked, jumping back and forth on his feet, jumping away and dodging the Behemoth's fist as it slammed it's hand into the ground over and over, trying to squish Terry. "Ohhh, I'm so pretty, oooh I'm gonna beat the purple straight offa you!" He laughed.

Then the thing blew with a mighty breath and he was knocked onto his stomach. The Behemoth then did something that was deliberately insulting...it took a single digit and began TICKLING the poor croc.

"Oh-no-AH-HA-HA-HA! S-stop it, HEE-HEE-HEE! No more, no-NAAA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAA!"

Everyone sniggered as Terry, finally out of breath, was rolled out of the ring, still chuckling from the tickling treatment he'd recived as the Behemoth smirked with pride.

"203 victories! This may be a new weekly record, big guy." The monkey in the tree commented, adjusting the headband around it's head as it recorded the latest win. "Who thinks they can take the mighty warrior that is the Behemoth on...and WIN?" He called out.

"HEY!" Riza yelled. Everyone turned their heads as the batty girl tossed the gloves off her body and removed her shirt. The Behemoth immediately widened it's eyes. The crowd gaped.

"Ooooooh." Terry remarked, eyes popping open.

"Listen, a-hole. Just cuz I got a cute ass, doesn't mean I can't kick yours. And enjoy your one and only look at my chest...you're not going to get a chance to touch me even once." She told the Behemoth.

"Ooh, I'm soooo scaaared of da big, bad, bat!" The thing commented in a childish voice that sounded like a five-year-old had been sucking on helium.

"...no WONDER you never talk." Riza remarked as she flew up into the air. The beast swung at her, but continued to miss as she dove and ducked, avoiding the strikes.

"Other people have tried THAT before, girl." The monkey called out.

"Did they try THIS?" She asked, swooping in a downward swerve, going straight into the Behemoth's ear.

It's eyes widened as she began to let out the loudest, more piercing shriek that could have ever filled a man's eardrums. It was like a thousand glass castles shattering all around him, a thundering clap of pure whining that made him howl in pain and spasm on the ground, gasping and clutching at his head...

His body falling outside of the ring. He'd lost, pure and simple.

Terry gaped as Riza crawled out of the Behemoth's ear and calmly walked over to him, putting her shirt and tip-less gloves on. "So..." She said. "I was thinking tonight, you cook me some nice spaghetti and meatballs. With lots and lots of sauce." She requested.

"...ohhhhhhh." He moaned, hanging his head.

Meanwhile, Order looked down from a cloud as his brother snacked on an apple nearby. "Look at that!" He said angrily, pointing at the defeated Behemoth. "She beat it!"

"So?" Chaos commented. "It was one nice trick. And besides, why do you care about that thing losing? It smelled like somebody's diarrhea after eating too much bad Chinese and Indian food."

"Yes, the Behemoth DOES have a rancid odor, but that thing was supposed to be the strongest creature I helped design!" Order snapped. "It was supposed to be seen as unbeatable! Being beaten by it would have forced people with swelled egos to become prideful! Now that it's been beaten, whatever victories it has from here on out will never be as effective because it's not an undefeated champion anymore!"

"She won fair and square." Chaos commented. "This is what happens when you cast yourself as unbeatable and demand that some champion step forth to beat you. Eventually SOMEBODY'S gonna cream you!" He laughed, rolling his eyes. "You can't expect things to stay the same, though I know you'd like to. Things change."

Order frowned darkly and turned away. His hatred for his brother was becoming far more prominent in his head. It was a steady mantra that was being repeated over and over.

_I'll get him, I'll get him, I'll get him..._


	10. Chapter 10

"The sunrise." Sonic said as he sat down on a hill with Amy. The two of them were just sitting underneath a tree, looking out over a valley as the sun slowly rose up into the sky. "Just look at it, Ames. No matter how many times I see it...I never get tired of watching it come up...or go down."

"It IS relaxing." Amy admitted. "And romaaaaantic." She added, nuzzling him with her cheek, making him blush. However, it was no longer blushing in so much nervous embarrassment so much as it was in playfulness.

"There's no place a man can hide the sunrise." White said, leaning against the tree to the side of them. They glanced at him, startled. How the heck did he keep poppin'...oh, right. Time/space powers. "Good news, you two. My story's almost done. I've learned some interesting things about this world." He told them all.

He sat down next to them as the sunrays rose higher into the sky, casting sweet light over the darkened valley, as a few wild rabbits and animals poked their heads up to look at the sun coming up. "What's with the look, dude?" Sonic wanted to know.

"...suppose you inherited a fortune from your parents. Suppose you thought they'd gained it all by working hard. And then you find out that they got it all from something like...slavery." He mumbled, shaking his head, looking ashamed.

"Yeah, I can understand that." Sonic said. "What does that have to do with your book, though?" He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"...thing is...I found out where the Emeralds originated from. You know chaos energy itself comes from them, remember? It's just that..." White said, his pink eyes filling with sad memory. "...I never thought it would be an origin riddled in blood."

"...b-blood?" Amy asked.

"Blood." White whispered. "The blood of the gifted being that helped to bless all life..."

**IN THE END...**

Humanity sure was something alright, Chaos thought to himself, his green, cat-like eyes gazing out over the city as he stood, leaning against the topmost tower of a large skyscraper. The people passed below him, hundreds of humans and sapients, all mingling together in the enormous city whose towers reached the heavens itself. Shining white, gleaming in the sun, it was a testament to their accomplishments.

And, interestingly, they had done something nobody else had. They had requested something that was both a gift AND a curse. This was very, very out of the ordinary, and though Order had been slightly perturbed, Chaos had been pleased as punch.

Potential. Pure, raw, potential. THIS is what humanity carried. They could be strong or weak, brave or cowardly, wise or foolish, good or evil. They could turn themselves into anything they wanted with the right tools and the right drive...or BE turned into anything. Ultimately it was hard to tell what humans were capable of or what they would do.

And this made Chaos very proud of them. A species entirely embracing his ideals...they had chosen wisely, he felt.

Order, in many ways, was pleased with humanity too, he decided. He leaned his back against a bench within the park, looking out over the city not from above, but below, a proud expression on his face.

Some saw trash and garbage piling up in the alleys. Yet he saw bums singing happily together, huddling around a fire in a garbage can, brothers brought together by a common bond. Others saw violence in the world, buildings crumbling and screams of the dying. Yet he would then see the injured being lifted up and healed, see the people join together in rebuilding, see others fling themselves in the path of death to save others. For every act of chaos and cruelty that was inflicted on them, they sought ways to "set it right", to bring order and peace to their world.

They'd chosen wisely, Order thought. They could become anything they wanted, do anything at all. And he was sure they would ultimately choose order.

...unless his brother said something about it.

And that did it. He knew then and there that he had to do something about Chaos. It was not merely a matter of hatred. It was a matter of the public good.

But how to do it? _How?_

...

...

...

... "_Hmmmmmm_." Chaos looked himself over in the mirror, frowning slightly. Behind him stood Oglive's descendant, who had so graciously let the godly being into his home so he could prepare for a very large party. Chaos had dressed himself up in a beautiful white tuxedo made of Egyptian silk, which complimented his dark skin tone very, very nicely. "What do you think?" He asked Oglive's great-great grandson, whom he'd affectionately nicknamed "Zee". "Am I stylin'?"

"Fit to kill."

"Pimpin'?"

"A to the B to the S to the O to the lutely."

"Ha-HAAAAA!" Chaos clapped hands with Zee. "That's what I'm talkin' about. Now let's get going." He told the blue hedgehog. "The party started ten minutes ago. There's fashionably late, and then there's just plain **embarrassing**."

The two of them left Zee's condo and headed to the local gym of the city, approaching the front doors as en echidna bouncer allowed them inside. The two of them were indeed very fashionably dressed, Chaos in his white tuxedo with Zee wearing a stylish-looking black vest and pants. Taking a seat at the bar that had been set up in the gym, they clinked glasses together and took a sip of some nice vodka as they looked out at the various women in the gym...and noticed a particular character talking to one woman very close by.

"Is that a...a CAT? No way. It's too damn big." Chaos commented, scratching his white-haired head. "And...no, it's gotta be some kind of mutant raccoon."

"No, no, it's a cat, a Maine Coon tabby, I'm pretty sure." Zee insisted, shaking his head. "Good lord, look at all those girls surrounding him!"

The cat mingled. Did very well.

...scored.

"Lucky b—tard." Zee mumbled as Chaos also came back from the bathroom, lipstick on his neck around a very deep hickey.

"Aw, cheer up. There's somebody out there for EVERYONE." Chaos insisted, sitting back with his friend as he cleaned off the lipstick with a napkin. "Sometimes there's two somebodies for one person. That's called the "Jackpot"." He told Zee with a grin.

"Hey, is that your brother over there?" Zee wanted to know, pointing through the crowd of people, pointing at a group that was situated around a large glass box that was stationed against the wall. Chaos blinked, looking at the largely-growing crowd as he saw perfect peach marble skin...

"Whaddya know. I'll be damned, it IS him." Chaos admitted, nodding his head. "What's that old fart doing here? We know everything about each other, everything there is to know...but I've never known him to be a party-type." He shrugged. "I guess even OUR kind can change." He decided, heading over to his brother as Zee followed after. "What's happening, brother?" He wanted to know.

"A contest." His brother said proudly, nodding his head. "I've got this big ol' glass box...and it's going to be filled to the brim with money, as you can see." He remarked, gesturing at a vent in the wall. "But I'm also putting in a special slip of paper with a big mark on it. Whomever gets that mark will get one wish free from me!" He told Chaos.

Chaos grinned. "Well...can **anybody** try it?"

"Of course. And since you are my brother, would you like to go first? You have to promise not to cheat." He demanded.

"I promise. Cross my heart, hope to die." Chaos swore, making an "x" motion over his heart.

Order nodded and calmly opened the door to the glass box. His brother stepped inside and the door closed behind him. Smiling inwardly, his brother held up a remote. "Here we go." He said.

He pressed the remote...

And gas suddenly began to fill the box. His brother gasped in horror as he tried to pound his way out of the box, and Order smirked broadly. "Don't bother, brother. That gas was specifically designed to sap the strength of anybody it comes into contact with...and to eventually choke them." He added as he snapped his fingers, a strong, shimmering wall of light forming around him and his brother. Zee gasped and slammed his fists on the wall, trying to break through.

It was no good. Chaos's eyes widened, his pupils dilating as he slowly began to sink to his knees in the glass box that was now his coffin. Order smiled and calmly folded his arms. "It's time to stop playing around and to get to work on making this world right. It's time to get in control of Life and seize destiny by the balls! And I cannot do that if you keep on trying to fool around, making things suddenly change!" He told his brother coldly as the last breath of life wisped out of Chaos's mouth.

Suddenly his body glowed and Order realized that he too was glowing the same strange, color-changing aura that his brother's corpse was shining with. "What on-" He began to say.

But...he never finished it. With a howling, wailing scream Order found himself being torn apart from the inside, and people turned their heads to see both Chaos and Order's bodies being dissolved away, one into multicolored light, the other into golden dust as a brilliant white light flooded the room. Those who COULD run, ran for their lives, rushing away out the doors of the gym as fast as they could and...

Light and fire enveloped all, flooding across the surface of the world.

Then...silence.

...

...

...

...Zee moaned as he held his head, slowly looking up. He found himself surrounded by rubble and chunks of earth that had been ripped apart, people scattered around and trying to stand up. Luckily, nobody was hurt...

It was that which had no life that had been utterly destroyed. The buildings...the bridges...the proud structures of civilization across the globe had been reduced to absolutely nothing. And...

There was something in the dirt. Golden...dust?

No, not dust. Zee dug and dug, pulling out...a ring. A golden ring. In fact, there were hundreds of them lying around in the ground, people holding them up in the air, the same golden hue as the dust that Order had become.

Zee realized then and there what had occurred. By killing his brother, Order had upset the balance of the world. And thus, reality itself had been damaged. Now the people on this world would have to start anew. But...somehow...he felt these rings would help. Just holding them gave him a sense of power and fulfillment. A sense that he could help to make order out of the chaos that the world had been left in.

Meanwhile, the echidna bouncer rubbed his head, looking stupidly at the things that had just clonked him over the head. He dusted himself off and stood up from the patch of dirt he'd been thrown into, gazing down at crystalline gems...at emeralds...all different colors.

And there was a very, very LARGE green emerald some distance away, with...a tiny figure sitting atop it. It looked like...some kind of strange, new, alien creature. The tiny blue thing had a yellow orb hanging off the top of it's head, with yellow-tipped, stubby arms and legs and a set of butterfly-like wings...

"What's your name?" The echidna asked, going towards the enormous emerald, looking down at the thing that sat atop it as it rubbed it's head.

The thing tried to say his name. But his tongue seemed tied up. Even as he tried to prounounce it, it came out wrong.

"Chow...chow..."

No, darn it. Not "chow", "Kay"! Start with "Kay", he thought to himself. Why couldn't he form those...why...why was he trying to say "Chaos"? Was that his name? He was pretty sure it was. Where did he belong? How did he know that was his name? Who was this thing? It sure was big and red...and what funny knuckles!

"So you're a "Chao", is that it?" The thing asked, scratching it's head.

Alright, if that's what he was, then that was it. He was a "Chao". The chao named Chaos nodded.

"Okay, little "Chao". C'mon." The echidna said, lifting the enormous emerald up. "I think that my family's going to really enjoy this little present you've given us." He told the thing as it floated alongside him, the two heading off towards the mountains. "We live in this place called Mystic City..."

The other emeralds were left on the ground. But, as if guided by some otherworldly force, one by one they rolled off as a small quake shook the ground for a few moments, taking off in different directions, bumping into various other creatures. And who knew what would happen should they be reunited again.

The world would never be the same.

**Author's Note:**

**Well, this has been a fun little excursion. I got to explain the past of the Sonic world AND where the chaos emeralds and rings originated from. I guess that in a way, this story is both prequel AND sequel to my earlier story in the Sonic realm, "Courage".**

**But I'm not stopping here. I'm making another story. And it's going to be a big, ambitious project. Stay tuned for one heck of a ride and thanks to all who helped to support this story.  
**

**Take care...**

**Nick  
**


End file.
